Sedition over Sabah and S'wak secession: 4 charged
Published on: Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Four Sabah Sarawak Keluar Malaysia (SSKM) activists were charged Monday with having materials urging Sabah and Sarawak to leave Malaysia.Azrie Situ, 24, Jemmy Liku Markus Situ, 32, Erick Jack William, 29, and Joseph Koilis, 29, pleaded not guilty before Sessions Court Judge Dean Wayne Dally when the charge was read to them, respectively.They allegedly had in their possession pamphlets with the seditious content at 9.50am on Feb. 1 this year at the weekly Tamu in Tuaran.
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Erick allegedly had 91 pieces of the seditious pamphlets, Joseph 13 pieces, Azrie five pieces and Jemmy one piece.The offence under Section 4(2) of the Sedition Act carries a fine of up to RM2,000 or a jail term of up to 18 months, or both, on conviction and the offending publication is to be seized and destroyed.Dally set April 15 for case management and May 18–22 for trial. The four were each released on a bail of RM20,000 with RM10,000 deposited in a local surety.Dally also ordered the four to surrender their passports, if any, to the court.
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Fuad, when contacted, said he was surprised that the bail was set at RM10k with one surety for a charge of this nature. The maximum fine for an offence pursuant to Section 4 (2) Sedition Act is RM2,000 only.He said the case will turn on issues pertaining to customary international law, Malaysia's treaty obligations and the special constitutional right of any Sabahan to question the position of the state in the federation.
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Earlier, Senior Federal Counsel Jamil Aripin who was assisted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Ernie Effizah Idris proposed bail of RM20,000 on the grounds that the offence is serious.Jamil said he proposed the bail to secure their presence in court since the four were caught red-handed in physical possession of the seditious publications.According to Jamil, in recent times two accused charged under the Sedition Act had absconded to another country after they were charged in court, arguing therefore that the RM20,000 was not excessive. Counsel Arthur Chin who stood in for counsel Tengku Ahmad Fuad requested the bail amount to be reduced to RM300 deposited each saying that all his clients are locals and had never been convicted for any criminal offence.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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