An ethnic Indian leader in Malaysia will face sedition charges after his appeal was dismissed by the High Court on Monday.
P Uttayakumar, the leader of the pro-ethnic Indian group Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF), is charged with publishing a letter with seditious content on HINDRAF's Police Watch Malaysia website between November 15 and December 8, 2007. The letter from HINDRAF was addressed to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The ethnic Indian leader will face sedition charges after Judicial Commissioner Azman Abdullah dismissed his appeal. After hearing his submissions, Judicial Commissioner decided that the sedition case could proceed in the lower court.
Uttayakumar's lawyer had filed a preliminary objection to the charge. On Dec 11, 2007, the Sessions Court dismissed the preliminary objection, opening the way for an appeal to be filed in the High Court.
The charge under the Sedition Act carries a maximum 5,000 ringgit (Rs 60,000) or three years jail, or both, on conviction, with five years jail for a subsequent offence.
Uthayakumars lawyer, N. Surendran, had filed a preliminary objection to the charge saying it was "groundless" and "defective" as there was no signature on the said letter to prove that it was indeed his client who had published it, online media reports said.
However, the judge noted that there have been recent cases in the High Court whereby the author of a seditious article could be identified, even without the signature, by ordering the website owner to reveal the identity of the writer.
The judge said the preliminary objections by Uthayakumars lawyer that the words used in the letter were not seditious would be more appropriate if they were raised in the trial court.
On Dec 11, 2007, the Sessions Court had dismissed the preliminary objection. An appeal was then filed with the High Court. Uthayakumars sedition trial continues in the Sessions Court on April 30.
