Thirteen people, some of them single mothers and cancer patients, who protested the appointment of Zambry Abdul Kadir as the new menteri besar of Perak at the Ubudiah Mosque in Kuala Kangsar four years ago, were today ordered to serve their two years’ jail sentence at Tapah Prison.

This follows the Kuala Kangsar Sessions Court finding them guilty of taking part in an illegal assembly and fining them RM5,000 each. The court also rejected their application for a stay of sentence pending appeal.

perak bn takeover protest mosque tear gas attack incident kuala kangsar rally 060209 31 The two- year jail term is the maximum penalty accorded for illegal assembly under Section 145 of the Penal Code.

According to Bernama , those jailed are Bad Latif Mansor, 47, Suhana Abdullah, 49, Meor Safizal Meor Mohamed Amin, 38; Mohd Faiz Mohd Arshad, 26; Zulhaizam Zulkifli, 29 and Isha Riduan Ishak, 59, Adi Hilmee Mohd Nasir, 44; Yusoff Jaafar, 48; Idris Mohd Thaib, 48; Mohamad Nazeer Hameed, 48; Khairul Azmi Hassan Basri, 48; Mohd Hasri Ismail, 48; and Mohamed Ismail SM Abdul Kadir, 47.

They were found guilty of taking part in an illegal assembly at 3.30pm on Feb 6, 2009, during Zambry's installation ceremony.

Sessions judge Norsalha Hamzah ordered the sentence to run from today as she refused to grant a stay.

Bernama also reported that the jail sentence was meted out due to public interest and public order and respect for the royal institution. 

According to lawyer Augustin Anthony, as a result of the court not granting a stay order they will file a formal application at the Taiping High Court on Tuesday at the earliest. Monday is a holiday as it is Malaysia day.

Court refuses to grant stay

The 13 were protesting the appointment of Zambry from the BN as the new Perak menteri besar, when the Pakatan Rakyat government under the stewardship of Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin fell.

This was the result of three Pakatan assemblypersons defecting to BN, causing the government to collapse, triggering a constitutional crisis.

perak bn takeover protest mosque tear gas attack incident kuala kangsar rally 060209 09 Augustin said the lawyers are upset as the court did not consider granting a stay even though  they had argued that some of the accused are single mothers.

“Some of them are also cancer patients,” he told Malaysiakini , adding that despite such grounds the court refused to grant a stay.

Among the lawyers who represented the accused were Aminuddin Zulkifli and Zamri Ibrahim.