Man convicted of insulting Islam to undergo mental observation

Man convicted of insulting Islam to undergo mental observation

Alistair Cogia's mother says he had shown signs of mental illness from an early age.

Alistair Cogia (right) being escorted out of court.
KUCHING:
The man who was given a 10-year jail sentence and fined RM50,000 for insulting Islam on social media here will be referred to a mental institution for one month’s observation.

High Court judge Azahari Kamal Ramli made the order on 22-year-old Alistair Cogia following an application for revision by a legal team from PKR yesterday.

The team comprised of See Chee How, who is Batu Lintang assemblyman, Desmond Kho, Jeffrey Mok, Francis Teron and Chai Pei Chen.

The prosecution was represented by deputy public prosecutors Musli Abdul Hamid, Isa Hassim and Hayda Faridzal Abu Hasan.

See said the application was made to ensure that there was nothing wrong with the conviction and sentence.

“We will return on April 16 to see whether it is necessary to continue with the hearing.

“If he is proven to be mentally unfit, then there is no question of the conviction and sentence,” he said.

The Sessions Court handed down the sentence on Alistair last Friday, after he pleaded guilty to uploading offensive material about Islam and Prophet Muhammad on Facebook.

According to Alistair’s mother, Alen Rijod, her son had been showing signs of mental illness from an early age.

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