PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin and former banker Syed Akbar Ali yesterday became the first Internet citizens to be charged with sedition.
Raja Petra, 58, was charged in the Sessions Court here with posting a seditious article on his website, Malaysia Today, at www.malaysia-today.net titled "Let's send the Altantuya murderers to hell".
The article implicated Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor in the murder of Altantunya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian woman.
The offence was alleged to have been committed at his house at No 5, Jalan BRP 5/5, Bukit Rahman Putra, Sungai Buloh, on April 25.
If convicted, he is liable to be fined RM5,000 or jailed up to three years or both.
This is the fourth time Raja Petra has been investigated by the police under the Sedition Act 1948. The first was in March 2001, followed by November 2004 and July last year.
Syed Akbar, 48, a Jalan Masjid India-based jeweller, was charged at the Sessions Court in Jalan Duta with posting a seditious comment on the Malaysia Today website.
The comment was in response to an article titled "Malaysia's organised crime syndicate: All roads lead to Putrajaya". He allegedly posted seditious comments about Malays and Islam.
Both men pleaded not guilty to their charge.
Raja Petra was initially taken to the Jalan Duta courthouse but after waiting for an hour, he was told to go to the Sessions Court here.
He was represented by a team of seven lawyers -- K. Balaguru, William Leong, J. Chandra, Lim Lip Eng, Jesvinderjit Singh, Karpal Singh and his son, Gobind Singh.
The courtroom was packed with Raja Petra's friends and bloggers who had come to show their support.
Among those present were Permatang Pauh MP Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Pandamaran assemblyman Ronnie Liu.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Nordin Hassan suggested bail of RM5,000 in one surety.
Balaguru raised a preliminary objection stating that the charge did not state the time of the alleged offence. He, however, withdrew his objection after a discussion with Karpal.
Judge Nurmala Salim then set bail at RM5,000 in one surety and fixed five days for hearing, which begins on Oct 6.
Nordin, speaking to reporters outside the court, said he would be calling about 15 witnesses.
Raja Petra was taken to the Sungai Buloh prison about 2pm when he declined to post bail. His wife Marina Lee Abdullah said her husband had told her that if his grassroots supporters, especially the "netizens", wanted him out, they would help raise funds.
"He doesn't want anything more than RM1 per person. I tried to persuade him, but he stood by his decision."
When contacted later, Marina told the New Straits Times that Raja Petra is expected to be out on bail this morning.
As at 4pm, a total of 24,500 people had banked in RM1 each into the designated CIMB account and Paypal (an online payment system) through Raja Petra's Walk with RPK: One Ringgit One Person campaign.
In contrast, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court was practically empty when Syed Akbar was charged. He had a team of three lawyers -- Ashok Kandiah, Malek Imtiaz and Haris Mohamed Ibrahim.
With only his wife and son for support, Syed Akbar, who is also an author, appeared before judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah about 12.45pm.
Before the charge was read, Ashok raised an objection that the charge was vague.
However, DPP Ishak Yusof argued that according to the Criminal Procedure Code, a plea had to be recorded before any objection could be raised.
However, Ashok submitted that an accused could not be called to enter a plea on a vague charge.
He pleaded for more time to make proper submissions as they were informed of the nature of the charge only at the last minute.
"If the charge was given earlier, we could have come up with more comprehensive submissions," he said.
DPP Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria appeared for the prosecution.
Komathy adjourned for lunch and when court resumed at 2pm, Ashok pleaded for bail to be set at RM1,000 as his client would not abscond.
Ishak suggested RM5,000, and Komathy set bail at RM3,000 in one surety pending hearing on June 10.
Source: The New Straits Times
The article implicated Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor in the murder of Altantunya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian woman.
The offence was alleged to have been committed at his house at No 5, Jalan BRP 5/5, Bukit Rahman Putra, Sungai Buloh, on April 25.
If convicted, he is liable to be fined RM5,000 or jailed up to three years or both.
Syed Akbar, 48, a Jalan Masjid India-based jeweller, was charged at the Sessions Court in Jalan Duta with posting a seditious comment on the Malaysia Today website.
The comment was in response to an article titled "Malaysia's organised crime syndicate: All roads lead to Putrajaya". He allegedly posted seditious comments about Malays and Islam.
Both men pleaded not guilty to their charge.
Raja Petra was initially taken to the Jalan Duta courthouse but after waiting for an hour, he was told to go to the Sessions Court here.
He was represented by a team of seven lawyers -- K. Balaguru, William Leong, J. Chandra, Lim Lip Eng, Jesvinderjit Singh, Karpal Singh and his son, Gobind Singh.
The courtroom was packed with Raja Petra's friends and bloggers who had come to show their support.
Among those present were Permatang Pauh MP Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Pandamaran assemblyman Ronnie Liu.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Nordin Hassan suggested bail of RM5,000 in one surety.
Balaguru raised a preliminary objection stating that the charge did not state the time of the alleged offence. He, however, withdrew his objection after a discussion with Karpal.
Judge Nurmala Salim then set bail at RM5,000 in one surety and fixed five days for hearing, which begins on Oct 6.
Nordin, speaking to reporters outside the court, said he would be calling about 15 witnesses.
Raja Petra was taken to the Sungai Buloh prison about 2pm when he declined to post bail. His wife Marina Lee Abdullah said her husband had told her that if his grassroots supporters, especially the "netizens", wanted him out, they would help raise funds.
"He doesn't want anything more than RM1 per person. I tried to persuade him, but he stood by his decision."
When contacted later, Marina told the New Straits Times that Raja Petra is expected to be out on bail this morning.
As at 4pm, a total of 24,500 people had banked in RM1 each into the designated CIMB account and Paypal (an online payment system) through Raja Petra's Walk with RPK: One Ringgit One Person campaign.
In contrast, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court was practically empty when Syed Akbar was charged. He had a team of three lawyers -- Ashok Kandiah, Malek Imtiaz and Haris Mohamed Ibrahim.
With only his wife and son for support, Syed Akbar, who is also an author, appeared before judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah about 12.45pm.
Before the charge was read, Ashok raised an objection that the charge was vague.
However, DPP Ishak Yusof argued that according to the Criminal Procedure Code, a plea had to be recorded before any objection could be raised.
However, Ashok submitted that an accused could not be called to enter a plea on a vague charge.
He pleaded for more time to make proper submissions as they were informed of the nature of the charge only at the last minute.
"If the charge was given earlier, we could have come up with more comprehensive submissions," he said.
DPP Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria appeared for the prosecution.
Komathy adjourned for lunch and when court resumed at 2pm, Ashok pleaded for bail to be set at RM1,000 as his client would not abscond.
Ishak suggested RM5,000, and Komathy set bail at RM3,000 in one surety pending hearing on June 10.
Source: The New Straits Times
1 comment:
Well, it’s amazing. The miracle has been done. Hat’s off. Well done, as we know that “hard work always pays off”, after a long struggle with sincere effort it’s done.
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marq gibs
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