FIVE years ago, after he was charged with sedition, former student activist Adam Adli Abd Halim was told he has been suspended from his studies.

Today, just before buka puasa, Adam Adli received a letter from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) informing him that the suspension has been lifted.

“I never expected the letter. I am touched. I am grateful,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“I am happy. My family, my mother… we are all happy. We are in the final days of Ramadan. I think this is my ‘keajaiban Ramadan’ (Ramadan miracle).”

According to the June 1 letter sighted by The Malaysian Insight, Adam Adli was suspended beginning the first semester of the 2013/2014 term after he was convicted of sedition. 

The suspension, in accordance with the Universities and University Colleges Act, was in effect throughout the duration of his case.

UPSI in Perak then received a letter from the Attorney-General’s Chambers on May 4, informing the institution that the Court of Appeals had acquitted Adam Adli on February 22, leading to the suspension being lifted.

“Receiving the letter out of the blue is forcing me to think what’s next,” Adam Adli, 29, said.

When he was suspended, he was single. Now, he has a wife and a baby son aged 10 months.

Adam Adli, whose major was teaching English as a second language, said he has to consult his family on his next move. 

“I have moved on since and settled back home in Penang, where I work as the coordinator of a youth voluntary organisation called Peka.

“To go back to UPSI means going back to school, doing my practical… it won’t be easy.”

Adam Adli was accused of making the seditious statement on May 13, 2013 at a forum in the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, when he urged people to topple the Umno and Barisan Nasional government.

He made the remark eight days after the 13th general election on May 5 that year, after the opposition failed to take over Putrajaya despite winning the popular vote.

He was found guilty by the Sessions Court in September 2014 and sentenced to 12 months’ jail. The high court that later upheld the conviction in February 2016 substituted the jail term with a RM5,000 fine.

But Adam Adli continued to fight the conviction until the Court of Appeals in February freed him, citing a “misdirection of law”. – June 11, 2018.