Activist Khalid Mohd Ismath was today slapped with 11 charges under the Communications and Multimedia Act and three charges under the Sedition Act.

This is in relation to his social media postings regarding the Johor royalty.

His lawyer Dinesh Muthal said Khalid was charged in the Johor Bahru Sessions Court and was denied bail on grounds that he may flee from the country.

"The prosecution did not want to offer bail. They used the case of (blogger) Ali Abd Jalil, who has escaped from the country, as an example.

"The reason for the bail refusal is to ensure the accused will attend the court proceedings," Dinesh ( photo ) told Malaysiakini .

Ali was arrested four times last year, slapped with three sedition charges and detained for 22 days for criticising the monarchy on Facebook.

The 29-year-old student, who was released on bail on Sept 29 last year, eventually fled to Sweden for asylum after claiming to receive countless death threats .

'Court can withhold Khalid's passport'

In his argument, Dinesh said the court could choose to withhold Khalid's passport instead.

"(Furthermore), Khalid has a wife and children here," he added.

The lawyer also told the court that activists and opposition figures charged under the Sedition Act were also granted bail.

Khalid was first detained last Wednesday. He was subsequently released and re-arrested under Sedition Act.