KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — The High Court has issued a gag order on blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, or Papagomo, barring him from making any statements or comments related to the sedition charge he faces.
Judge Datuk Noorin Badaruddin made the decision after allowing the prosecution's application to review the Sessions Court's decision, which rejected the application for a gag order.
“The gag order applied by the prosecution is allowed as long as the respondent (Wan Muhammad Azri) does not make any comments or messages related to the charge until the disposal of the case,” he said.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Datin Kalmizah Salleh argued that the gag order was important to prevent uneasiness from occurring due to comments made related to the case.
“We applied for a gag order because the party involved in this case is His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia,” she said.
Lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, representing Azri, requested that the review be rejected because the application did not state details regarding the impact on public order if the gag order was not imposed on his client.
On May 2, Azri, 41, pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court to posting seditious publications against His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia, on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
The former Umno Youth exco member is accused of committing the act at a condominium unit in Bukit Bintang at 12pm on April 29.
The charge is framed under Paragraph 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948, which can be punished under subsection 4(1) of the same law. If convicted, the latter provides for a maximum fine of RM5,000 or imprisonment not exceeding three years, or both.
— Bernama
