Karpal charged with sedition: Are we a nation against all political opposition?

Karpal charged with sedition
by S Pathmawathy
March 17, 2009

Bukit Gelugor member of parliament Karpal Singh was charged with sedition in Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court this morning in relation to his threat to sue the Perak ruler over the political crisis in the state. He was charged under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act and faces a maximum jail sentence of three years or a RM5,000 fine or both if found guilty. Subsequent offences are punishable with a maximum jail sentence of five years.

Karpal pleaded not guilty before judge Mohamad Sekeri Mamat and was released on a RM2,000 bail with one surety. The prosecution claimed that Karpal had committed the offence on Feb 6, between noon and 12.30pm, at his legal firm in Jalan Pudu Ulu, Kuala Lumpur.

The allegedly seditious statement read out this morning was from a partial transcript of a press conference held at the law firm, during which Karpal had said Sultan Azlan Shah could be taken to court in his official capacity for authorising the removal of Pakatan Rakyat Perak Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin.

Based on the underlined parts of the transcript, Karpal is alleged to have said: ‘With that ruling of the federal court which has stood the test of time for 32 years, beyond a pale of a doubt, the Sultan of Perak has contravened Article 16(6) of the constitution of the state of Perak.

“In my view, until such time the assembly has invoked the provision of Article 33(1), both Mohd Osman Jailu and Jamaludin Mohd Radzi remained PKR assemblymen, together with Jelapang assemblywoman Hee Yit Foong remaining with the DAP until her resignation letter was subjected to determination by the assembly pursuant to Article 33(1), thereby causing the Pakatan Rakyat to have 31 members in the assembly of 60 members.

‘It cannot therefore be said that the Sultan of Perak (right) acted intra vires (when) in fact (he) acted ultra vires
Article 16(6) when he determined that Menteri Besar (Mohd) Nizar Jamaludin had ceased to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the legislative assembly and was therefore required to tender resignation of the executive council over which he presided including his own resignation.

‘Clearly the Sultan of Perak cannot invoke his powers under Article 16(1) which states [His Royal Highness shall appoint an Executive Council] to appoint a Barisan Nasional executive council with a new menteri besar and a new government. The government of Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaludin still had constitutional supremacy and legitimacy. The actions of the Sultan of Perak are clearly premature.”

The veteran lawyer told reporters later that the case is a complicated one. “The entire statement including the question-and-answer (session) with certain parts underlined are parts which are said to be seditious. Surely it must in the context of the entire statement. Otherwise, like I said, take only the underlined parts as the charge and not the whole thing,” he said.

He also said he agreed with the prosecution’s application to transfer the case to the High Court because there would then be “an opportunity to take it up to the Federal Court”. If the case is tried in the Sessions Court, the next step would be to go to the Court of Appeal.

“This is a serious matter and we do not want wrong precedence to be set. The Federal Court is the highest court in the country to once and for all decide what are the parameters,” said Karpal.

‘Not worried about charge’

Karpal was represented by 13 lawyers, including himself and his four children – Jagdeep Singh. Ram Karpal Singh, Gobind Singh and Sangeet Kaur. He described the presence of family-members in the courtroom today as “comforting”, also saying they support him all the way.

Other prominent lawyers assisting with the proceedings are Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, RSN. Rayer, N Sankara Nair, M Kulasegaran, M Manogaran, Lim Lip Eng, R Ramesh Sivakumar and KA Ramu. Senior federal counsel Kamaluddin Md Said and Mohd Hanafiah Zakaria represented the prosecution.

Karpal had arrived at the court at about 9.15am with his family members and the session began at 10.24am. Also present to lend support were fellow DAP leaders including Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng and Teresa Kok, and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim. Speaking to reporters before entering the court, Karpal said he was not worried about being charged with sedition. “I have been in politics for 40 years and I have been in courts before. It is part of our job as members of parliament to speak without fear or favour,” he said.

“The Sedition Act should have pensioned off long ago. It is among the (most) archaic laws in the country, including the Internal Security Act.” He stressed that whatever he has said in relation to his intention to sue Sultan Azlan Shah was in line with legal principles.

Karpal said he stands by his view that a ruler can be taken to court in his official capacity under Article 821(2) of the federal constitution, which states that no proceedings whatsoever shall be brought against a ruler in his personal capacity except in the special court.

This is second time that Karpal has been charged with sedition. The first was in 2001 while he was the lead defence counsel for former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim during the corruption trial in 1999. Karpal had allegedly stated that Anwar’s health had worsened “due to a high-level conspiracy to poison him with arsenic” while in detention. However, the charge was later withdrawn by attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail.—www.malaysiakini.com

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