Karpal being accompanied by lawyers and supporters outside the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.
– Picture by Choo Choy May
The veteran lawyer-politician was charged at the Sessions Court here before Judge Mohamad Sekeri Mamat under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1946.
Karpal is further accused of several other seditious statements related to the entire Perak constitutional crisis which began a month ago.
He is accused of committing the crime during a press conference at his law firm here on February 6.
A partial transcript of the press conference, which formed the basis for the charge, was read out in open court.
Among the underlined statements, which are allegedly seditious are:
"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 Constitutions of the State of Perak," referring to a 1977 Federal Court decision that the King had acted beyond his authority in confirming three detention orders under the Emergency Ordinance.
"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 a Menteri Besar Dato' Haji Nizar bin Jamaluddin still had constitutional supremacy and legitimacy. The actions of the Sultan of Perak are clearly, premature."
Karpal pleaded not guilty.
If found guilty, he can be punished under the same Act with a maximum fine of RM5,000 and a jail term of up to three years for the first offence, and five years for subsequent offences.
This is Karpal's second sedition charge. His first was in 2000, during the trial of sacked deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, where he was charged for seditious statements on arsenic poisoning.
But the prosecution later dropped the charge against him and he walked out a free man.
Chief prosecutor, Datuk Kamaluddin Md Said from the Attorney General's Chambers, requested the case against Karpal be transferred to the High Court and bail to fixed at RM2,000 with one guarantor.
There were no objections from Karpal.
As he told reporters later, he wants the matter to go all the way up to the Federal Court.
He explained that if the matter was heard at the High Court level, it could be taken all the way to the apex court. On the other hand, if the matter remained at the Sessions Court, the highest it could get to was the Court of Appeal.
"I think the highest court in the land should decide on this, once and for all. This affects my dignity as an MP," the federal lawmaker for Bukit Gelugor said.
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