Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli (center) was sentenced to 18 months’ jail today. ― Picture by Saw Siow Feng

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli stands to lose his parliamentary seat after he was sentenced to 18 months’ jail today for breaching the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972 by disclosing part of the Auditor General’s Report on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Sessions Court judge Zulqarnain Hassan imposed the jail sentence on the PKR lawmaker after finding him guilty on two charges of possessing and disclosing an OSA document in Parliament on March 24 and March 28 this year.

However, the court granted a stay of execution pending an appeal in the High Court.

Though the 18-month term was handed separately for each offence, they will be served concurrently.

Under the Federal Constitution’s Article 48, lawmakers are disqualified from holding the office if they are sentenced to not less than a year in prison or fined not less than RM2,000.

“I rely on the provisions of the OSA in sentencing. According to the Act, the prison term upon conviction is between one year to seven years,” Zulqarnain said after listening to mitigation submission by defence lawyer Gobind Singh Deo.

Gobind also sought clarification from the judge on whether the original charge remains or whether it has been amended after Zulqarnain in his judgement cited three paragraphs from the 1MDB report as being revealed by Rafizi.

Rafizi was charged for both the possession and disclosure of page 98 of the 1MDB report, which he made public during a press conference on March 28 at the Parliament lobby.

Gobind also pointed out that the prosecution did not produce the page in question during the trial.

Separately, civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan noted that a by-election will not be necessary even if Rafizi is disqualified.

“There will be no by-election in Pandan. 1. Rafizi Ramli is appealing verdict and 2) in any event, it’s 2 years to auto dissolution of Parliament,” he wrote on Twitter.

The 13th Parliament will naturally dissolve in June 2018 if a general election is not called before then.