UM lecturer Azmi Sharom faces sedition charge

(The Star) – Universiti Malaya (UM) law lecturer Azmi Sharom is expected to be charged with sedition on Tuesday over comments made on an online portal over the 2009 Perak crisis.

He is expected to be charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948.

Under the section, anyone who utters any seditious words faces a fine of not more than RM5,000, a jail term of not more than three years, or both, if found guilty.

Azmi declined to comment on the possibility of him being charged for making the statements.

Azmi is the latest to be caught in the recent sedition dragnet, following last Thursday’s charging of Padang Serai MP N. Surendran, at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

Surendran is alleged to have committed the offence at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya in his capacity as counsel for Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim by saying in a YouTube video that the Sodomy 2 proceedings against Anwar were “an attempt to jail the opposition leader of Malaysia.”

This is the second sedition charge leveled against Surendran, who was charged with sedition on Aug 19.

In his first charge, the incumbent PKR vice-president allegedly made statements regarding the judgment of the appellate court in Anwar’s second sodomy case in a YouTube video.