PETALING JAYA (Jan 18): The deputy public prosecutor has objected to Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s bid to stay his sedition trial pending a transfer application from the Sessions Court in Selayang to the High Court in Shah Alam.
The trial, which was slated to begin on Thursday before Sessions Court judge Nor Rajiah Mat Zin, has been postponed.
The judge had set January 18 and 19 as the dates for the trial to commence. However, Sanusi made an application to adjourn the beginning of the trial as he would be attending to official duties overseas.
At a case management Thursday morning at the Selayang court, lawyer Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud, representing Sanusi, informed the court of the application to transfer the case to the High Court.
He said the application was filed at the Shah Alam High Court on January 15 and submitted to the Attorney General’s Chambers the next day.
Awang Armadajaya then asked that the trial be stayed, pending the outcome of the transfer request to the High Court.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Masri Mohd Daud objected to the stay and the notice of motion to transfer the case to the Shah Alam High Court.
The judge then decided that both parties are to file written submissions by January 24 and replies by January 31, and set February 2 for her decision on whether a stay would be granted for the trial. Sanusi was excused from attending the decision.
Previously, the judge had set 12 dates in January and February to hear the case. Other than January 18 and 19, the other trial dates were: February 5-9, February 12-13, February 15-16, and February 19, 22, and 23. Ten witnesses are slated to be called.
If a stay is not granted, the trial could officially begin on February 5 at the Sessions Court.
On July 18 last year, Sanusi was charged with two counts of sedition under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 for the statements he had made.
Both charges accused him of uttering words that have a tendency to incite disloyalty against a ruler.
For the first charge, Sanusi allegedly belittled the Sultan of Selangor for having appointed Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari as the state’s menteri besar, by saying that the Kedah sultanate would not have appointed him (Amirudin) as MB. Sanusi also alleged that the Kedah ruler’s lineage was the only one that was uninterrupted.
Under the second charge, Sanusi is alleged to have questioned the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong’s move to have a unity government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
If convicted, Sanusi could be fined up to RM5,000, or jailed up to three years, or both.