Rafizi waves to the crowd outside the court. — Bernama photo
PUTRAJAYA: PKR vice-president Mohd Rafizi Ramli was spared the jail sentence after the Court of Appeal here on Friday bound him over to be of good behaviour for two years for exposing a page of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) audit report.
A three-man bench, comprising Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi, Datuk Kamardin Hashim and Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, allowed Mohd Rafizi’s appeal to be bound over to be of good behaviour for two years on a RM10,000 bond with one surety.
Justice Ahmadi, who chaired the court panel, set aside the 18 months jail sentence imposed on Mohd Rafizi, 41, by the Sessions Court and substituted it with the binding over to be of good behaviour.
Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud did not object to the request by Mohd Rafizi’s counsel Ahmad Nizam Hamid for the binding over.
The prosecution also withdrew its cross-appeal against Mohd Rafizi’s acquittal on the first charge of possessing the audit report without approval.
Following the withdrawal, Justice Ahmadi struck out the prosecution’s appeal.
Ahmad Nizam informed the court that his client was withdrawing his appeal against conviction and only pursuing his appeal against the sentence.
Mohd Rafizi was convicted on the second charge of exposing the content of the report at a media conference at the Parliament building lobby in Jalan Parlimen, Kuala Lumpur, on March 28, 2016.
For the first charge, he was accused of possessing page 98 of the audit report, which had been classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) by the government, at 3pm on March 24, 2016.
The former Pandan MP did not contest in the 14th general election.
Mohd Rafizi, attired in a white shirt, black long pants and a black jacket, said he came to court yesterday prepared for any possibility, including being sent to jail.
He said he was grateful for the binding over and thanked the court, the deputy public prosecutor and his lawyers.
When asked by a reporter how he felt, Mohd Rafizi responded: “I will behave well … for two years.”
His response drew laughter from the people around him.
He said the exposure of the report was his responsibility as an MP then and he was prepared to face the consequences following this action.
“If today I was fated to be jailed, I would accept it,” he said. — Bernama