Zaid Ibrahim said the Malaysian Bar should organise a march to the Palace of Justice in a show of solidarity with lawyer Arun Kasi. — Picture by Miera Zulyana

PETALING JAYA, April 23 — The Federal Court’s decision to impose a prison sentence on lawyer Arun Kasi for contempt of court has drawn criticism from the legal community as lawyers and experts took to social media to express their dissatisfaction.

Arun was sentenced to a 30-day jail term to be served from today after he committed contempt of court for making disrespectful remarks online regarding a court judgment.

Former Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said the Malaysian Bar should organise a march to the Palace of Justice in a show of solidarity.

“Don’t let Arun suffer alone. This is the beginning of New Malaysia that we must oppose,” he tweeted.

Lawyers for Liberty advisor N. Surendran also tweeted on the matter and said a fine would have been sufficient in Arun’s case.

“Imprisonment for contempt should be imposed only in the most serious cases. More so, since there is no right of appeal from the sentence,” he said.

Human rights advocate and legal director of Fortify Rights Eric Paulsen said the sentencing was unnecessary and criticism against the judicial body should not be made an offence.

“Justice is not a cloistered virtue and everyone must be allowed to be critical, rightly, wrongly, even being rude or outspoken regarding the judiciary.

“Respect for the judiciary cannot be enhanced through contempt proceedings, ie. the courts themselves assessing whether allegations of impropriety against the judiciary are justified.

“What is at stake is freedom of speech. It is our right to speak out on matters of public interest and judges and their judgments should not be shielded from criticisms,” he said in a tweet.

Lawyer Shanmuga K. said Arun’s sentencing was a first of such a case under the Pakatan Harapan government.

He pointed out that even under the previous Barisan Nasional government, such a ruling did not take place.

“Has a lawyer in ‘Malaysia lama’ ever been sent to prison for the archaic offence of ‘scandalising the judiciary’ because of a critique of a court judgment?

“‘Malaysia baru’ keeps letting me down,” he said in a tweet.

Arun was also fined RM40,000 for making hateful statements pertaining to the case of Leap Modulation Sdn Bhd vs PCP Construction Sdn Bhd, where the Federal Court decided to erase a dissenting judgment by Court of Appeal judge Datuk Hamid Sultan Abu Backer.

Arun, however, had previously stressed that his comments were fair criticism.