Veteran Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Pakatan Rakyat icon Karpal Singh was fined RM4,000 today by the High Court for sedition, opening the possiblity he might lose his parliamentary seat for Bukit Gelugor.
Malaysia’s Federal Constitution disqualifies any lawmaker receiving a fine of RM2,000 or more from holding public office or remaining an elected representative. However, Malaysian Bar president Chris Leong said Karpal might still be able to hold on to his seat in Parliament pending the appeal of his case to court.
High Court judge Datuk Paduka Azman Abdullah passed down the sentence after two hours of heated arguments between Karpal’s defence team and the prosecution, in a courtroom packed with high-ranking Pakatan Rakyat leaders, Karpal’s supporters, and members of the media.
A row of benches had to be added to the gallery, while the side aisles were filled with standing observers.
Karpal was found guilty of sedition on February 21 this year, over his remarks on the Sultan of Perak’s role in the 2009 state constitutional crisis.
In 2010, the DAP National Chairman was initially acquitted by Azman without having to enter a defence. In February 2009, Karpal held a press conference in which he said the Sultan of Perak’s decision to remove Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin of PAS as Menteri Besar of Perak in favour of Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir of UMNO was open to legal challenge.
The prosecution later appealed the acquittal successfully in 2012, insisting that Azman took a flawed approach in arriving at his decision then.
In 2009, three Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers defected to become pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) independents, which caused the state won by the informal pact in Election 2008 to fall back into the hands of the latter coalition.
Karpal’s conviction last month had attracted criticism, with critics pointing out that Putrajaya had continued to use the Sedition Act despite previously promising in July 2012 to repeal the now 66-year-old law.
A number of federal opposition (PR) politicians and activists were also charged last year under the Sedition Act.
Story: The Malay Mail Online
