KUALA LUMPUR: A lorry driver was sentenced to 16 years’ jail by the High Court on four terror-related charges, including receiving instructions to commit terror attacks in Malaysia.
Judicial Commissioner Datuk Ab Karim Ab Rahman in sentencing Syed Amir Asyraf Syed Hamdan said the offences committed were serious including taking instructions from the late Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi.
“You had four charges which were all interlinked. Terror is a global problem and it is borderless.
Syed Amir, 21, pleaded guilty to supporting the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, via messaging application Telegram on his smartphone and on his Facebook page under the name ‘Abu Syed Malizi (in Arabic letters) green birds of jannah’ and was sentenced to 10 years’ jail.
On the second charge, Syed Amir admitted to receiving instructions through the same application from Muhammad Wanndy, a Malaysian IS militant in Syria, to commit terror acts using a bomb, a pistol and 24 bullets, and was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment.
He also pleaded guilty to possession of photographs and videos of the IS group and acts of terrorism, and being involved in plotting terror acts via a messaging application WeChat using the name ‘Abu Syed Malizi’.
Syed Amir was jailed five years’ each, for both the offences.
The youth committed the offences at Kg Sungai Merab Luar in Bandar Baru Bangi here between Jan 9 and Aug 27, 2016.
Ab Karim ordered the sentences to run concurrently from Syed Amir’s date of arrest, Aug 27, 2016.
Counsel Azamuddin Abd Aziz told the court that Syed Amir was a young offender who was influenced by Muhammad Wanndy.
Deputy public prosecutor Izhanudin Alias in seeking a deterrent sentence for Syed Amir said the accused had received instruction from Muhammad Wanndy to attack Malaysia using bombs, guns and ammunition.