15-5-2024 (KUALA LUMPUR) The Court of Appeal has granted temporary release of Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s passport, permitting him to travel to Singapore and Taiwan.
A three-member panel, chaired by Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail, approved the release with the condition that Syed Saddiq return the travel document by June 18. Justices Azmi Ariffin and Zaini Mazlan also reviewed the application.
Syed Saddiq’s lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, explained that the application, submitted last week with supporting documents, was made to allow his client to attend a close friend’s daughter’s wedding in Singapore on May 18. The friend, George Yeo Yong-Boon, is a former foreign affairs minister of Singapore.
Additionally, Syed Saddiq was invited by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia to visit Taiwan from June 10 to 15 as one of Malaysia’s representatives.
Deputy public prosecutor Afif Ali stated that the prosecution had no objections after reviewing the application and deemed it reasonable.
In November, Syed Saddiq was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined RM10 million after being convicted of abetting criminal breach of trust (CBT), misappropriation of assets, and money laundering. Justice Azhar Abdul Hamid sentenced him to three years in prison and a whipping for the CBT charge. He was also sentenced to an additional two years in prison and one stroke of the rotan for embezzling assets belonging to the youth wing of Bersatu. These sentences are to run consecutively, resulting in a total of five years.
Furthermore, Syed Saddiq received two-year prison terms and RM5 million fines for two counts of money laundering, to be served concurrently.
The judge allowed the defence’s application to stay the sentences pending appeal and ordered that all bail conditions, including the RM300,000 posted by Syed Saddiq, be retained during the appeal process.
At 30 years old, Syed Saddiq is the first elected representative to be ordered to be whipped for a white-collar crime under the Penal Code. The law exempts those aged 50 and above from this punishment.
The Court of Appeal has not yet set a date for Syed Saddiq’s appeal, as the appeal records, including the grounds of judgment, are still being prepared.
