BERSATU activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin claimed trial to two charges of criminal defamation and sedition at the Kuala Lumpur cybercrime sessions court.

The charges were read before judge Siti Aminah Ghazali who allowed bail to be set at RM10,000 for each charge.

Badrul Hisham, also known as Chegubard, was represented by Rafique Rashid Ali.

Badrul Hisham faces charges of issuing defamatory statements under Section 500 of the Penal Code and sedition under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948.

Rafique Rashid was reported as saying that the defamatory statements were allegedly made by the owner of the Facebook account under the handle Chegubard using the name of the Agong, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, and the sedition charge was related to the issue involving the KK Supermart & Superstore Sdn Bhd founder seeking an audience with Sultan Ibrahim.

Badrul was arrested late Saturday to facilitate an investigation into a social media post he had made regarding alleged talks on the opening of a casino in Forest City, as reported by Bloomberg.

He was arrested at the Tapah Rest and Recreation area in Perak about 7pm before being brought to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday had denied reports that the government was mulling a casino licence to revive Forest City in Johor. Anwar described the claims made in the report as a “lie”.

Berjaya Corporation Bhd (BCorp) and Genting Malaysia Bhd have also both dismissed the claims made in the report.

Shutting down criticism

Meanwhile, Lawyers for Liberty director Zaid Malek said it was unnecessary to arrest and remand Badrul for repeating or commenting on something that was reported by a reputable global news network.

“The offending post that he has been arrested for are merely his comments on the Bloomberg news report that Anwar is in discussions on opening a casino in Forest City. 

“The Bloomberg news article was also attached in the same post. Where is the crime in this? Only in dictatorships do people get arrested for something like this,” Zaid said in a statement.

He said that it appeared as if the authorities were targeting Badrul for commenting on the news. 

“It is obvious that the government is resorting to the Sedition Act and section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act to shut down any criticisms or questions regarding the government’s action. 

“This is the clearest act showing that the government’s primary intention is to stop any public discourse that damages the image of the government in voters’ eyes by abusing the criminal investigation process and misusing police resources.

“The duty of the police is to preserve public safety, and not to preserve the image of the government,” he added. – April 29, 2024.