Sri Muda rep late for court case

Tuesday March 29, 2011

SHAH ALAM: Sri Muda assemblyman Shuhaimi Shafiei turned up at the Sessions Court at about 10am, almost an hour late, for the scheduled remention of his sedition case.

Shuhaimi arrived in court clad in the official state assembly attire, as he had come straight from attending the opening of the state assembly by the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah here yesterday.

Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria applied to the court to issue a warrant of arrest on Shuhaimi for not being present in court at 9am.

[Late for court: Bukit Antarabangsa reps Azmin Ali (left) talking to the media after the state assembly opening ceremony in Shah Alam. Looking on is Shuhaimi]

 

Shuhaimi’s lawyer Edmund Bon, however, said the court had been that Shuhaimi had to attend the opening of the state assembly and asked for the court to stand down to have the accused present in court.

Judge Slamat Yahya allowed the application.

Shuhaimi told reporters that he was disappointed he had to leave the state assembly meeting while Sultan Sharafuddin was giving his speech.

“When Tuanku Sultan was speaking, I was not in the hall and certain parties will play on the issue that I did not respect the Sultan,” he said.

When proceedings resumed, Shuhaimi was read the charge against him and claimed trial.

The Parti Keadilan Rakyat assemblyman is charged with posting an allegedly seditious article in his blog, srimuda.blogspot.com, on the appointment of Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi as the new Selangor State Secretary on Dec 30 last year.

The alleged offence was committed at Pusat Khidmat Rakyat, 6/2, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla, R 31/R, Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam.

Bon asked the court to fix another date as he wanted to file an application at the High Court to strike out the charge against Shuhaimi on the basis that the Sedition Act was unconstitutional.

Slamat then fixed April 25 for remention of the case.