KUALA LUMPUR, 22 FEBRUARY, 2012: Sixteen people involved in an anti-ISA rally near Masjid Negara in 2009 have been found guilty of illegal assembly by a Sessions Court, reported The Star.

Only 11 of the accused – seven men and four women – were present in the court Wednesday.

Sessions judge Ainul Shahrin Mohd sentenced each of them to a day's jail and RM2000 fine in default a week in prison. Ainul said that the mitigation and sentencing for those absent would be done on another date.

According to the report, the court room was packed during the proceeding, with some of the accused having to sit in the public gallery as the docks could not accommodate all.

The offence was committed around the Masjid Negara grounds between 9am and 11:15am on August 1, 2009.

Arrest warrants were issued for Mohamad Sukri Mohamad, 27, Syaza Muaz Shaharudin, 22, and Zul Sifli Kamma Kutty, 26, as they did not provide a reason not to attend court.

Noorazam Sakib, 47, and Hayati Abd Samad were not issued warrants as their counsel claimed they had family issues to attend to.

Mitigating for the first seven accused, counsel Ariff Azami Hussein, said the crime was not violent and they were first offenders.

"This rally was for a noble cause, to oppose the ISA which is viewed as tyrannical (zalim). It was not to cause a ruckus," he said.

He urged the court to recognize that the Government had taken steps to abolish the ISA and amend the Police Act.

The judge granted a stay of execution pending an appeal by the accused.