Muhyiddin Charged With Sedition For His Remarks Against The Former Agong
The Perikatan Nasional chairperson pleaded not guilty.
By Sadho Ram — 27 Aug 2024, 12:13 PM
Earlier today, 27 August, former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was charged at the Gua Musang Sessions Court under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948
The Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairperson pleaded not guilty to making seditious remarks after the charge was read to him before Judge Nik Mohd Tarmizie Nik Mohd Shukri, reported the New Straits Times.
Under the charge — in reference to a speech Muhyiddin made during a PN campaign event at Felda Perasu in Gua Musang, Kelantan, on 14 August — the Pagoh member of parliament faces a fine of up to RM5,000 or imprisonment for up to three years, or both, upon conviction, according to FMT.
According to the charge sheet, Muhyiddin was charged with uttering the following seditious remarks:
"Saya nak ceritakan mungkin orang Nenggiri ingatkah tak ingat. Saya waktu itu, sekali lagi diberikan sokongan ada 115 Ahli Parlimen yang sokong saya. Ikut Perlembagaan kalau saya sebagai Ahli Parlimen ada dapat sokongan 114, campur saya Muhyiddin Yassin ada satu Parlimen jadi 115.
"Kerusi Parlimen 222. Kalau bahagi 2 berapa? 111... kalau dapat lebih 1 dia boleh bentuk kerajaan. Tapi saya dapat 115. Kalau ikut kiraan Perlembagaan saya sudah ada jumlah yang lebih daripada mencukupi untuk jadi Perdana Menteri. Ini bukan nak mengungkit tapi it's a record of history.
"Tapi entah macam mana Yang Dipertuan Agong waktu itu tak ajak jemput saya pergi Istana angkat sumpah. Siapa yang Dipertuan Agong dulu? Faham dah la eh. Kita tak nak cerita apa-apa buruk eh tapi yang itu bagi saya agak luar biasa... tapi takpe lah. Maka lepas tu terbentuklah kerajaan Perpaduan..sekarang ni kita panggil kerajaan Madanon."
Translation:
"I want to tell a story that the people of Nenggiri may or may not remember. At that time, once again, I had the support of 115 members of parliament who supported me. According to the Constitution, if I, as a member of parliament, have the support of 114, plus myself Muhyiddin Yassin as a member of parliament, that makes 115.
"There are 222 parliamentary seats. If you divide it by 2, how much is it? 111... if you get one more, you can form a government. But I had 115. According to the Constitutional calculation, I had more than enough to become prime minister. This is not to bring up old issues, but it's a record of history.
"But somehow, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at that time did not invite me to the Istana to be sworn in. Who was the Yang di-Pertuan Agong back then? You get the idea, right? We don't want to say anything bad, but to me, that was quite unusual... but never mind. After that, the Unity Government was formed...now we call the 'kerajaan Madanon'."
For the record, during his tenure as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah had invited Muhyiddin to form a coalition government with Pakatan Harapan, which he outrightly rejected.
The judge allowed Muhyiddin to post RM5,000 bail and fixed 4 November as mention
According to the New Straits Times, the prosecution had asked for bail to be set at RM20,000 with a gag order imposed. However, this was objected to by the defence, which argued that a bail of RM5,000 was sufficient.
The judge set bail at RM5,000 and rejected the gag order.
