Kuala Lumpur: A leading opposition lawmaker was charged with sedition Tuesday over a satirical video Islamic groups say insults Malaysia's Muslim majority, becoming the latest government opponent to be brought to court.
The charge follows the March conviction of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of sodomy in a case he has decried as politically motivated to ruin his career.
Teresa Kok, vice chair of the Democratic Action Party, told AFP the charge was over her video "Onederful Malaysia", which was released in January and depicts her as a talk show host with three eccentric guests.
Defence lawyer Sankara Nair said the MP faced up to three years in jail if found guilty of publishing seditious material.
Repeated use of the Sedition Act and other repressive laws against opposition figures in the past year have resulted in condemnation from rights groups and claims of a government clampdown on dissent after its worst ever electoral result last May.
Kok's colleague Karpal Singh was also found guilty in February of sedition for insulting a state sultan -- respected figureheads in the Malay Muslim-majority country. He died in a car crash in April.
A coalition of Muslim groups in Kuala Lumpur also held a protest, slaughtered two chicken and offered a 1,200-ringgit ($370) reward in February to anyone who slapped Kok for insulting the Malay leadership and Islam.
But after retaining power with a weak showing in 2013 polls, Najib is believed to be under pressure from disgruntled conservatives in his Muslim ruling party to backtrack on reform.
The charge follows the March conviction of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of sodomy in a case he has decried as politically motivated to ruin his career.
Teresa Kok, vice chair of the Democratic Action Party, told AFP the charge was over her video "Onederful Malaysia", which was released in January and depicts her as a talk show host with three eccentric guests.
Defence lawyer Sankara Nair said the MP faced up to three years in jail if found guilty of publishing seditious material.
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Repeated use of the Sedition Act and other repressive laws against opposition figures in the past year have resulted in condemnation from rights groups and claims of a government clampdown on dissent after its worst ever electoral result last May.
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Kok's colleague Karpal Singh was also found guilty in February of sedition for insulting a state sultan -- respected figureheads in the Malay Muslim-majority country. He died in a car crash in April.
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A coalition of Muslim groups in Kuala Lumpur also held a protest, slaughtered two chicken and offered a 1,200-ringgit ($370) reward in February to anyone who slapped Kok for insulting the Malay leadership and Islam.
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But after retaining power with a weak showing in 2013 polls, Najib is believed to be under pressure from disgruntled conservatives in his Muslim ruling party to backtrack on reform.
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