Caretaker Kedah menteri besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has accused the current administration of using enforcement agencies to silence him.
This comes after he was charged in court earlier today with two counts of uttering remarks with “seditious tendency”.
“Looks like we can’t say anything in Malaysia. Usually, people resolve political problems in the political arena with rebuttals to arguments.
“But in Malaysia today, we have a government that is so scared that they use the police or authorities to block our speeches,” Sanusi said.
He was speaking briefly to reporters outside the courtroom after being charged at the Sessions Court in Selayang this morning.
Sanusi said his prosecution should be a sign that the government is “afraid” and will use every public apparatus to block the “people’s fervour”.
He also believed that he is getting charged now because of the upcoming state polls.
“They want to damage my chances in the state polls. I am confident that with these charges, the rakyat will understand their true purpose and wish.
“My prosecution was expedited. The investigation only took three days.
“I was taken at 3am without any notice. I only knew I was getting prosecuted through the media,” he said.
Sanusi said he was ready to cooperate fully with the investigation and prosecution process, but the authorities still insisted on arresting him.
“They arrested me at 3am at the apartment I was staying in Kuala Lumpur,” he told reporters after he posted his bail at the Selayang Court.
Sanusi spoke out about what had happened to him despite an earlier gag order to bar him from speaking about the case issued by the two Sessions Court Judges who heard charges against him.
The judges allowed the prosecution’s application for a gag order to prevent Sanusi from making prejudicial statements on the case.
Solicitor-General Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh applied for the order after the court heard Sanusi’s charges for allegedly making seditious remarks that could incite disloyalty towards any Ruler.
It was reported that Sanusi, 48, was arrested by the police early this morning at a hotel in Mont Kiara.
A video posted on social media early this morning showed Sanusi being surrounded by plainclothes policemen.
“Muhammad Sanusi had just returned to his hotel room at 11pm last night after attending the Perikatan Nasional Supreme Council meeting. At 2am, we saw two men in dark clothes standing at the emergency exit of level 33A and at 2.10am, there were five more men.
“At 2.30am, they knocked on Muhammad Sanusi’s room door and there were 20 policemen outside the room.
“He was then ordered out of his room, brought downstairs and ushered into an MPV, which we were told was headed to the Gombak district police headquarters.” Sanusi’s political secretary Hilmi Abd Wahab was quoted saying.
Sanusi arrived at the court complex at around 8.55am, wearing a white-collared long-sleeved shirt and black pants, without going through the main entrance where the media personnel had been waiting as early as 7am.
Sanusi, who was not handcuffed, walked into the courtroom at 8.58am with a team of policemen around him.
The incumbent Jeneri assemblyman looked calm and smiled at media members from the first floor of the court.
For his first charge, Sanusi is accused of insulting the Selangor Ruler during a speech in the state.
Sanusi is said to have compared the Kedah and Selangor royal households, remarking that the Kedah Ruler would not have appointed caretaker Selangor menteri besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shaari as a state leader.
Sanusi pleaded not guilty.
Judge Nor Rajiah Mat Zin set bail at RM5,000 and placed a gag order on him not talk about the case until it is over.
For his second charge, Sanusi was brought in front of Judge Osman Affendi Mohd Shalleh.
He was also charged under the same Sedition Act for comments made during the same speech on July 11.
For this charge, Sanusi had accused Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of using the monarchy to justify the formation of his unity government.
Sanusi again pleaded not guilty.
The judge set bail at RM5,000 and placed a gag order on Sanusi to not talk about the case until it is over.
Both judges set October 4, 2023, for written submissions.
The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, while Sanusi was represented by Datuk Shaharudin Ali dan Wan Rohimi Wan Daud.
Sanusi is facing a maximum three-year imprisonment or RM5,000 fine upon conviction under Section 4(1)(a) of the Seditious Act.
Almost a hundred media personnel were present in the courtroom today. Some had gathered at the court complex as early as 7am.
There was a strong show of police presence as well.
Also seen were at least 50 supporters gathering near the compound.
Meanwhile, PKR applied at the Selayang Sessions Court to conduct a watching brief in Sanusi’s sedition case.
Lawyer Asheeq Ali Seethi Alivi, who represented the political party, appeared in court on Tuesday (July 18).
At the outset of the proceedings involving Sanusi, the lawyer told Sessions judge Nor Rajiah Mat Zin he had received an instruction from his client, PKR, to apply for a watching brief on the grounds that it was a “public interest case”.
Asheeq Ali also made the same oral application before Sessions judge Osman Affendi Mohd Shalleh but this was not allowed.
“You have to write to the court for this,” Osman Affendi said.