A canteen supervisor was sentenced to 18 months’ jail by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today after he pleaded guilty to possessing 39 items of video-recordings on terrorism.

Judicial Commissioner Ab Karim Ab Rahman ordered Muhammad Sani Mahdi Sahar, 23, who is from Johor, to serve the sentence from the date of arrest on Nov 9, 2015.

In his judgment, Ab Karim said although Muhammad Sani kept the video-recordings for his own viewing and to be watched by his friends, possession of the items was categorised a serious offence.

“The court understands your concern on the sufferings and hardship of the people there, unfortunately, your way is against the law in the country and your action can be deemed as instigating terrorism,” he said.

Ab Karim said although Muhammad Sani was young, the court had to take into account public interests as his action could influence people to terrorism, despite the video-recording was only in the form of documentaries.

Earlier, Ab Karim asked Muhammad Sani the reason for his action, and the accused said he wanted to study the terrorist group and why it was labelled so.

Muhammad Sani was charged with committing the offence at the Tangkak district police headquarters, Ledang, Johor, at 1.50 pp on Nov 9 last year.

The charge, under Section 130JB(1)(a) of the Penal Code, carries an imprisonment for up to seven years or fine and forfeiture of items used in the commission of the offence.

According to the facts of the case, the police seized Muhammad Sani’s handphone which contained 39 items on video-recordings pertaining to terrorism.

During investigation, Muhammad Sani admitted to having downloaded the video-recordings from a terrorist's website to his handphone and then showed the recordings to his friends.

In mitigation, Muhammad Sani’s lawyer, Choong Joo Tian, said his client, who has a family to support, was remorse and promised to never do it again.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Mohd Nordin Ismail.

- Bernama