The Star
By LISA GOH
By LISA GOH
KUALA LUMPUR: Hindraf leader P. Uthayakumar will face his sedition charge after he failed to challenge it in the High Court.
Judicial Commissioner Azman Abdullah dismissed Uthayakumar’s appeal after hearing submissions from both parties, and decided that the case could proceed.
Uthayakumar is charged with publishing a letter with seditious content on the Police Watch Malaysia website at Menara Mutiara Bangsar, Bangsar between Nov 15 and Dec 8, 2007.
Judicial Commissioner Azman Abdullah dismissed Uthayakumar’s appeal after hearing submissions from both parties, and decided that the case could proceed.
Uthayakumar is charged with publishing a letter with seditious content on the Police Watch Malaysia website at Menara Mutiara Bangsar, Bangsar between Nov 15 and Dec 8, 2007.
The letter dated Nov 15, 2007 was from Hindraf and addressed to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at No 10 Downing Street, London.
The charge under the Sedition Act carries a maximum RM5,000 or three years jail, or both, on conviction, with five years jail for a subsequent offence.
On the point that the allegedly seditious letter did not carry Uthayakumar’s signature, Azman said:
“There have been recent cases in the High Court whereby the author of a seditious article can be identified, even without signature, by having a court order instructing the website owner to reveal the identity of the said author.”
He also said the points raised by Uthayakumar’s lawyer, N. Surendran, in his preliminary objection that the words used in the allegedly seditious letter were in fact not seditious, would be more appropriate if they were raised in the trial proper.
Surendran, however, filed a preliminary objection to the charge saying it was “groundless” and “defective” as there was no signature on the said letter to prove that it was indeed his client who had published it.
On Dec 11, 2007, the Sessions Court dismissed the preliminary objection. An appeal was then filed with the High Court.
Uthayakumar’s sedition trial continues in the Sessions Court on April 30.
The charge under the Sedition Act carries a maximum RM5,000 or three years jail, or both, on conviction, with five years jail for a subsequent offence.
On the point that the allegedly seditious letter did not carry Uthayakumar’s signature, Azman said:
“There have been recent cases in the High Court whereby the author of a seditious article can be identified, even without signature, by having a court order instructing the website owner to reveal the identity of the said author.”
He also said the points raised by Uthayakumar’s lawyer, N. Surendran, in his preliminary objection that the words used in the allegedly seditious letter were in fact not seditious, would be more appropriate if they were raised in the trial proper.
Surendran, however, filed a preliminary objection to the charge saying it was “groundless” and “defective” as there was no signature on the said letter to prove that it was indeed his client who had published it.
On Dec 11, 2007, the Sessions Court dismissed the preliminary objection. An appeal was then filed with the High Court.
Uthayakumar’s sedition trial continues in the Sessions Court on April 30.
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