Kuala Lumpur, January 23,2012: A well-known ethnic Indian opposition politician and lawyer faced sedition charge today after a Malaysian appeals court overruled a high court judgement to acquit him for criticising a royal state sultan.
A three-member bench of the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya, in a unanimous decision, said prosecution has established prima facie case against Karpal Singh, 71, for uttering seditious words against the Sultan of Perak in 2009. Singh, who represented former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim in a sodomy trial, had been acquitted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on the sedition charge in June, 2010. Soon after the decision, Singh said he would appeal the decision in the Federal Court. According to the Malaysian law, sedition is punishable by up to three years in jail.
Singh is the national chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP).
A three-member bench of the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya, in a unanimous decision, said prosecution has established prima facie case against Karpal Singh, 71, for uttering seditious words against the Sultan of Perak in 2009. Singh, who represented former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim in a sodomy trial, had been acquitted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on the sedition charge in June, 2010. Soon after the decision, Singh said he would appeal the decision in the Federal Court. According to the Malaysian law, sedition is punishable by up to three years in jail. Singh is the national chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP).