KUALA LUMPUR • A workshop manager has been jailed for seven years for attempting to go to Syria to support the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group's activities in the Middle East.
High Court judge Azman Abdullah handed down the sentence to Azmi Mohd Asari, 28, who pleaded guilty to the terrorism-related charge against him, reported The Star. Azmi was charged with attempting to go to Syria via Gaziantep, Turkey, to commit terrorist acts in Syria. He is alleged to have boarded a Turkish Airlines flight at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 19 last year and flown to Turkey to join the terror group.
He was arrested after he returned to Malaysia. Justice Azman ordered the sentence to run from May 18 this year, the day Azmi was arrested.
Earlier, in mitigation, defence counsel Faridah Mohammad said Azmi was a first-time offender and had pleaded guilty. She added that he had repented.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Izhanudin Alias urged the court to mete out a deterrent sentence to serve as a lesson to the accused and society, said The Star.
Some 60 Malaysians are believed to be fighting for ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Malaysian intelligence sources have revealed that the fighters are staying put there even as ISIS is being backed into a corner due to continuous assaults by allied forces.
"Unlike the European militants, Malaysian fighters are deeply entrenched with ISIS. There is no indication that they are heading back. In fact, more Malaysian ISIS cells have indicated their desire to go to Iraq and Syria," Malaysia's Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division head Ayob Khan told The Star.
Malaysia's Court of Appeal has signalled that members and supporters of ISIS are to be shown no leniency in its reviews of terror cases, reported the Malay Mail Online.
This year, the Court of Appeal has significantly enhanced the sentences of people aiding the militant group. In the latest such case, the court on Aug 10 increased the five-year jail sentence of a house builder who supported the terror group to 12 years.
In another such case on June 21, the court enhanced the jail terms of two men who were convicted for soliciting contributions for ISIS from three years to 15 years.
And on April 25, the court hiked the jail term of an oil palm plantation operator who was training individuals to participate in terror activities from five to 15 years.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court seems to have taken the cue, as seen in the case of a policewoman found guilty of failing to divulge information on a terror group. She was sentenced to seven years in jail, the maximum sentence permissible.
