A 23-year-old jobless man had his jail sentence reduced by the Court of Appeal to five years for supporting the Islamic State militant group and keeping terrorism-related images on his mobile phone.

A three-person bench comprising Justices Mohtarudin Baki, Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal and Rhodzariah Bujang allowed a lower jail sentence after Wan Mohamad Nur Firdaus Abd Wahab’s cross-appeal.

Justice Mohtarudin, who headed the court panel, reduced the man’s eight-year jail term to five years for the first charge of supporting IS, and for the second charge of keeping terrorism-related images, the five years’ jail sentence was lowered to only two years.

The judge also ordered Wan Mohamad Nur Firdaus to serve the sentences concurrently from the date of his arrest.

Meanwhile, the court panel dismissed the prosecution’s appeal to enhance the jail sentence for the first charge, ruling that the prosecution’s appeal did not have merits.

Deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin had pressed for a jail sentence of between 10 to 12 years to be imposed on Wan Mohamad Nur Firdaus for the first charge because the accused had pledged his loyalty to the militant group.

Wan Shaharuddin did not seek a higher jail term for the second charge as he said the five-year jail sentence imposed by the High Court was adequate.

Wan Mohamad's counsel Mohd Faizi Che Abu argued that the jail sentence should be lowered on grounds that his client had not been an active participant.

In 2017, Wan Mohamad pleaded guilty to the charges of supporting the IS by way of bai’ah (pledging oath of loyalty) in a Telegram chat group called Gagak Hitam (Black Crow) using the name Lat Firdaus and owning 23 terrorism-related images in his mobile phone.

The first offence was committed at a house in Seksyen 24, Shah Alam, at 7.32am on March 30, 2016, and the second was at the same place at 8.35am on Sept 25, 2016.

-Bernama