Angkatan Muda Keadilan Selangor (AMS) read with utter disgust of the fine and one-day jail sentence imposed on Ahmad Hafizal Ahmad Fauzi by the Kangar Magistrates Court in Perlis.

We have, on numerous occasions, voiced out against the harsh penalties as spelt out in Section 18(1) of the National Service Training Act 2003. But the Umno-led Barisan Nasional government saw it fit to pass the law that makes an absent national service trainee liable to a fine of RM3,000 or six months imprisonment.

And now we can see a kind-hearted young man, who did not attend the programme to help out his family, being jailed because he could not pay the RM600 fine.

The boy is leading a life of example for selflessly working the paddy fields to help his family make ends meet. A suffering felt by all low-income earners courtesy of the BN government. His excuse is valid and the government should have taken notice of his excuse and not subject him to prosecution.

We seriously question the Attorney-General's Chamber's lack of discretion and wonder whether the charging of this poor 16-year old is worth the taxpayers money.

Umno and their cohorts should stay away from Ahmad Hafizal's house because it is them who hauled Ahmad to the court in the first place.

The writer is the secretary of the Keadilan Youth Wing.