Legal team to request for a revision as man jailed for insulting Islam on Facebook said to be mentally ill
See (second left) and other legal team members speak to Alen.
KUCHING: A legal team will request for a revision of the proceedings of the case of a man jailed for 10 years and fined RM50,000 for insulting Islam on Facebook as he is said to be suffering from mental illness.
Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How said this is to ensure that there is regularity of the proceedings and correctness, legality and propriety of the Court’s findings, sentence, and order recorded and passed.
Alister Cogia, 22, who was not represented by counsel, had pleaded guilty to uploading offensive materials on Islam and Prophet Muhammad on social media.
“It is our principle not to support or tolerate any insult or abuse towards any religion in our country. In this case, the family had approached our local divisional leaders and sought our help, indicating that Alister is suffering behavioural difficulties and requires psychiatric advice and therapy,” See said when leading a team of lawyers to visit Alister’s family in Singai, Bau, yesterday.
“The family asserted that they were not given the chance to meet Alister in the four days that Alister was under remand, was not told that he was to appear in court Friday and hence he was unrepresented in court. There is doubt whether Alister understood the gravity of the charges and the significance of his guilty plea.”
He said the legal team, which also comprised lawyers Francis Teron, Desmond Kho, and Jeffery Mok, would give an account of Alister’s mental state.
“We will suggest that the case be recalled and request that the court will seek the opinion of a psychiatrist to ensure that there is no failure of justice in the conviction and sentence,” said See.
Alister’s mother Alen Rijod said her son had shown signs of mental illness since young.
She said among her five children, he was the only one with no friends, kept to himself, and would stay cooped up in his room.
He also refused to continue schooling halfway through Form 1.
Alen said her second child, who was not working, would sometimes get into an angry state and shout while alone in his room.
“Just two weeks ago, he did something similar with another of his Facebook accounts when someone reported him. He was taken away by the police and kept in the Bau police station for a night, but he was released without charges.
“Worried about his worsening mental state, we had decided to bring him for a psychiatric examination and advice. His uncle brought him to Hospital Sentosa end of last month, but we were told to bring him for examination at a general hospital first and obtain a referral to be examined further in Hospital Sentosa,” she said.
Alen said Alister had become very irritated and refused to go to Bau Hospital for an examination.
“We didn’t know what he did in the room or online until the police came knocking. We later found out that he has multiple Facebook accounts and goes around posting weird comments,” she said.
She added the family had not seen or heard from Alister since the police came back for him a second time on March 3.
Alister pleaded guilty before Sessions Court Judge Jason Juga on Friday to five charges under Section 298A (1) (a) of the Penal Code and five charges under Section 233 of the Multimedia and Communications Act 1998.
He was sentenced to a total of 10 years in jail and fined a total of RM50,000 for all 10 charges.
The jail term is to run consecutively.