I’ll study behind bars, says Adam Adli after sedition conviction

Student activist Adam Adli has been sentenced to a year in jail for sedition. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, September 20, 2014.

A year’s imprisonment for sedition would be “troublesome”, but student activist Adam Adli Abd Halim said he was not frightened by the possibility that he may end up behind bars.

On the contrary, the law student told The Malaysian Insider that a year in prison could be good for both his studies and his fight for the repeal of the Sedition Act 1948. He was convicted yesterday – the same day when the Malaysian Bar approved a protest walk against the colonial-era law that has been used extensively this past month.

“It will be a bit fussy lah, the entire process of going into jail, like I would have to cut my hair. But I will be fine. I can focus on my studies in jail,” said a nonchalant Adam.

“A year in jail is a bit too much. But if that’s what it takes to educate the public on how the Sedition Act works and why we are against this draconian law, so be it.”

Adam, 25, was convicted of sedition charges and sentenced to a year in jail yesterday for comments he made at a May 13 forum last year. He had questioned the results of the 13th general election and asked Malaysians to take to the streets to remove Barisan Nasional (BN) from federal power.

The court yesterday allowed him a stay pending appeal and bail at RM5,000.

Adam said he would continue his nationwide campaign against the Sedition Act 1948 with the groups Gerakan Hapus Akta Hasutan and Gerakan Anak Muda Hapuskan Akta Hasutan.

Urging Adam on was his father, Abd Halim Abd Hamid, a retired civil servant who accompanied him to court yesterday.

Abd Halim, 54, told The Malaysian Insider that he would be disappointed if his son allowed the prison sentence to discourage him from fighting against the Sedition Act.

“While I don’t want him to go to prison, I’m proud that my son is brave enough to stand up for the truth.

“And if he were jailed, then I would be proud that my son went to prison fighting for the rights of Malaysians.”

Like Adam, Abd Halim felt strongly against the Sedition Act, and believed that the people should not stop fighting it until it was abolished.

“If we slow down our efforts to fight evil, it means that we have given up. We must keep the fire alive so that this issue is not forgotten.

“So if Adam slows down, I will push him on. As long as the government maintains the Sedition Act, we will fight,” said Abd Halim.

Adam, the eldest of two sons, is the second student activist to be jailed for sedition. Former Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) chairperson Muhammad Safwan Anang was sentenced to 10 months’ jail by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on September 5.

Safwan was convicted of uttering seditious words during the same forum on May 13 last year.

“At first I thought the 10 months (prison sentence) meted out to Safwan was bad enough, then comes mine. It’s just getting worse,” said Adam.

“I believe that they purposely do this to set an example to others to not challenge authority.”

He still stands by his statements last year, adding that it was neither sensitive nor harmful to society.

“At most, it will be harmful to the authority, but how can you rule this to be seditious? That’s the problem: whoever has the power will use it against their critics.”

Adam stressed that he had not urged people to riot nor had he asked them to topple the BN government using violence.

“I just wanted the public to physically show BN we are not afraid of them, and to demand that the government step down so a re-election can be called.

“I didn’t ask that the public kick them out and replace them with Pakatan Rakyat. No, it has to go through elections.”

- TMI