Sanusi’s sedition trial transferred to High Court
Sanusi’s sedition trial transferred to High Court
SHAH ALAM: Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Nor’s application to have his sedition case transferred from the sessions court in Selayang to the High Court here has been allowed.
“I allow the application after going through the affidavits and hearing oral submissions by the parties,” Justice Aslam Zainuddin said.
Following today’s ruling, the trial scheduled to begin in the Selayang sessions court on Monday will not proceed.
Sessions court judge Nor Rajiah Mat Zin had in October fixed 12 hearing days between Feb 5 and March 18 for the trial.
Sanusi, who is the Jeneri assemblyman, is facing trial over statements he allegedly made about the royalty.
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According to the amended charge sheet, the Perikatan Nasional election director faces two charges under Section 4 (1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948.
He allegedly committed the offences at Simpang Empat in Taman Selayang Mutiara, Gombak, Selangor, on July 11 last year.
If convicted, he is liable to a fine of up to RM5,000, a jail term not exceeding three years, or both.
Earlier, lawyer Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud, representing Sanusi, submitted that his client’s application should be allowed under Section 417 of the Criminal Procedure Code to allow him a fair and impartial trial in the High Court.
He said questions of law and matters of unusual difficulty were likely to arise in the course of the trial.
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Awang Armadajaya also said that the accused is the menteri besar of the state of Kedah while the subject matter of the trial involved the royalty.
“High Court judges enjoy immunity as they are constitutionally appointed while a sessions judge is a civil servant who could be transferred,” he said.
The lawyer, a former deputy public prosecutor and judicial commissioner, said a High Court could use its inherent power under the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 (CJA) to handle delicate questions of law.
He also said that for the matter to go up to the Federal Court, the apex court of the nation, it must begin in the High Court.
Awang Armadajaya pointed out that Anwar Ibrahim’s two sodomy trials and Najib Razak’s corruption cases were started and tried in the High Court although they could have been brought to the sessions court.
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Deputy public prosecutor Masri Daud submitted that the sessions court judge was more than competent to conduct the trial as the law on sedition was settled.
The trial judge, he said, could refer to a long list of precedents from the High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court to guide her in the conduct of the trial and in her decision.
“The lower court judge can also rely on Section 30 of the CJA to transfer the case in the event that legal and constitutional issues are raised,” he added.
He said Sanusi would not be prejudiced if his case was heard in the subordinate court.
“Should the transfer application be allowed, it will open the floodgates for such applications every time an accused is charged with sedition,” he added.
Sanusi’s sedition trial transferred to High Court
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