SHAH ALAM (Dec 10): Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has been acquitted of sedition against the Sultan of Selangor and discharged by the High Court here.
Judge Datuk Aslam Zainuddin made the ruling on Tuesday, after deputy public prosecutor Datuk Masri Mohd Daud informed that the prosecution did not plan to continue with the charge after the Attorney General’s Chambers accepted Sanusi’s representation.
Masri had earlier asked for a discharge not amounting to acquittal, which meant that Sanusi could be recharged again for uttering seditious remarks against the Sultan of Selangor last year. Aslam, however, granted a discharge and acquittal, freeing Sanusi once and for all from the charge.
Sanusi still faces one more charge, which has not been dropped, for questioning the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s move to have a unity government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
That second charge remains, Masri said, with the trial set to commence from Feb 24 to 28 next year.
Sanusi had been charged with two counts of sedition under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 for allegedly uttering words that had a tendency to incite disloyalty against a ruler, in relation to remarks he made about the Sultan of Selangor and the then Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.
The charges are punishable under Section 4(1) of the same Act, which provide a maximum fine of up to RM5,000, or imprisonment for up to three years, or both, if convicted.
For the dropped charge, Sanusi allegedly belittled the Sultan of Selangor for having appointed Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari as the state’s menteri besar.
Sanusi purportedly said the Sultan of Kedah would not have appointed Amirudin as the MB, and also alleged that the Kedah ruler’s lineage was the only one that was uninterrupted.
In September, Sanusi sought forgiveness from Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah of Selangor over his statement that was considered disrespectful and insulting to the ruler. The Sultan then said in a statement he had accepted Sanusi’s apology.