Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Karpal to be charged for sedition against Perak Sultan

PETALING JAYA: DAP chairman Karpal Singh is expected to be charged under the Sedition Act on Tuesday for allegedly insulting the Sultan of Perak.
The Bukit Gelugor MP will be charged in the Jalan Duta lower court for his alleged threat to sue the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah for acting beyond his powers and consenting to the appointment of Datuk Dr Zambry Kadir as the new Perak Mentri Besar.
The DAP stalwart was reported to have uttered the statement on Feb 6.
Karpal Singh's daughter Sangeep Kaur Deo confirmed her father was served with a notice by a policeman on Monday to be present at the Jalan Duta court at 9am on Tuesday.
The charge is under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act.
"We have not decided on the legal team yet," said Sangeep Kaur.
It is also not sure whether Karpal Singh will be representing himself in court to answer the charge.
The fiery lawyer’s statement caused anger among many parties and groups which led to them lodging over 100 police reports nationwide and hundreds more taking to the streets demanding him to issue a public apology to the Sultan’s family.
Later he also received a death threat letter and bullets in the mail.
This is not the first time Karpal Singh has faced charges under the Sedition Act.
In 2002 he was acquitted and discharged by the High Court of uttering seditious words at the sodomy trial of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, two years after he was charged at the Sessions Court with the offence.
Justice S. Augustine Paul made the order after newly-appointed Attorney-General Datuk Abdul Gani Patail told the court that he was withdrawing the charge against Karpal Singh.

tunku : what took the AG so long to decide, anyway its better late than never. this piece of garbage need to be prosecuted fast.this is not the first time he is facing this kind of charges but we hope this is the last one and he will be inside for good.

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