PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision on blogger Wan Azri Wan Deris’s appeal against his conviction and 30-day jail sentence for contempt of court over his failure to properly apologise to former inspector-general of police Razarudin Husain.
Justice Azizul Azmi Adnan, who chaired a three-member bench with Justices Ong Chee Kwan and Radzi Harun, said case management would be held on Oct 29 to fix a date for the decision.
Wan Azri's lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali earlier submitted that his client had purged his contempt by reading an agreed, unconditional apology in open court on April 30 last year.
Rafique said Wan Azri, also known as Papagomo, also complied with the court’s directive to publish the apology on TikTok, YouTube, X and Telegram for at least seven days.
He said Wan Azri paid RM5,000 in costs and his apology was widely reported by the media.
"We take the position that he was not in contempt of court," said Rafique, who was assisted by Amirul Ar Rasyid Azam.
The lawyer urged the bench to replace the jail term with a fine, arguing that a custodial sentence would affect Wan Azri’s fundamental liberty.
However, lawyer Raam Kumar, appearing for Razarudin, urged the bench to dismiss the appeal and uphold the two contempt orders made by the High Court on Aug 27, 2025.
He argued that Wan Azri failed to genuinely comply with the apology and undertaking given in court.
He said the apology video was made virtually unreadable through rapid scrolling, while a video published the following day denied that he had apologised to Razarudin.
Raam also said Wan Azri failed to substantiate his claim that his social media accounts were suspended and showed no remorse.
Raam, assisted by KB Tan and Norleena Jamal, maintained that the sentence was justified and warranted no appellate intervention.
He added that the court could enhance the punishment under Section 69(4) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964, even without a cross-appeal on sentence.
On Aug 27 last year, High Court judge Gan Techiong sentenced Wan Azri to 15 days’ jail for failing to properly comply with the order to apologise, and another 15 days for a subsequent video showing a lack of remorse. The sentences were to run consecutively.
Gan said the apology video, uploaded on April 30 and featuring the P Ramlee song "Maafkan Kami" as background music, was unacceptable as it made the apology appear to be an entertainment video.
Razarudin filed a RM3 million defamation suit against Wan Azri on Dec 27, 2024 over allegedly defamatory remarks involving him and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
On Jan 10, 2025, Razarudin obtained an injunction barring Wan Azri or his agents from publishing or disseminating defamatory statements about him on social media until the suit was resolved. The High Court subsequently granted leave for committal proceedings over the alleged breach.
On April 30, just before the committal proceedings began, Wan Azri read a statement expressing unreserved and unconditional regret for referring to Razarudin in a demeaning manner in a Jan 14 social media post, and for publishing a doctored photograph of him the following day.
He also undertook to publish the apology on four social media platforms and keep it online for at least seven days.