The Kuala Lumpur High Court today postponed to Jan 20 the hearing of an application by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin to remit his criminal defamation case to the Magistrate's Court where he was originally charged.

Judicial Commissioner Zainal Aznam Ab Aziz made the decision after counsel J Chandra, representing Raja Petra, informed the court that lead counsel Manjeet Singh Dhillon is seeking treatment in the United Kingdom for an ailment.

DPP Anselm Charles Fernandes who represented the prosecution did not object to the application.

Manjeet Singh had raised a preliminary objection and submitted a notice of motion to the High Court last month against the prosecution's application to hear the matter in the Sessions Court.

The questions raised included a constitutional issue with regards to equality in relation to the quantum of fines to be imposed, if the case was to be heard in the Magistrate's Court compared to the trial being held in the Sessions Court.

raja petra kamaruddin sentul police station 181108 02 If Raja Petra's case is heard in the Magistrate's Court, there is a RM10,000 cap on the fine. However there is no limit on the fine if heard in the Sessions Court.

Anselm however argued that the constitutional matter had been decided previously by the Federal Court, and that the Sessions Court has jurisdiction to hear the case.

Anselm also submitted case laws which showed that the constitutional issue on equality had also been decided by the Federal Court, Court of Appeal and High Court.

Furthermore, he submitted that under Article 145 (3A) of the federal constitution, the attorney-general is empowered to determine the court or venue where proceedings shall be instituted or transferred.

Raja Petra, 58, the editor of the Malaysia Today portal, had on Nov 24, claimed trial to three charges of criminal defamation in the Sessions Court.

He was initially charged on July 17 in the Magistrate's Court with three counts of criminal defamation against Rosmah Mansor, acting Colonel Aziz Buyong and Colonel Norhayati Hassan through a statutory declaration.

A number of other cases

raja petra criminal defamation charge 251108 Raja Petra is alleged to have committed the offences at the High Court Civil 5 at the Jalan Duta court complex at 10.25am on June 18. Raja Petra faces a maximum two-year jail term or a fine or both, if convicted.

In his statutory declaration, Raja Petra implicated Rosmah, who is the wife of Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, and the other two in the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

However, on Aug 15, magistrate Nazran Mohd Sham decided to transfer the case to the Sessions Court following an application by Anselm.

Sessions judge Mohamad Sekeri Mamat had on Nov 28 ruled he would not be making any decision on the preliminary objection and the notice of motion as it had been referred to the High Court.

Besides this criminal defamation case, Raja Petra is also facing a sedition charge in the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court where trial is expected to resume on Dec 16.

He is also facing two civil suits, one by top lawyer Shafee Abdullah and another by the army couple over his postings on the Malaysia Today blog.

Shafee's civil suit will be heard on Feb 23, for an inter-parte hearing after High Court judge Tee Ah Sing granted an ex-parte injunction against the blogger on Aug 13.