Bukit Gelugor MP and veteran lawyer, Karpal Singh, remains upbeat and says he will be able to ward off the latest sedition charge preferred against him by the prosecution at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.

karpal singh charged under seditious act 170309 07 Karpal said based on the support from his friends and political allies, he is confident of being able to come out of the trial unscathed.

"I am confident of stepping into the court room to fight the battle against me. Even the new Malaysian Bar president is with me," he said.

Karpal, who is DAP chairman, was accompanied by party stalwart Lim Kit Siang. Lim, who is also Ipoh Timur MP, described the charge as malicious and a form of political persecution made against his friend.

"The case should not have taken place at all," said Lim.

Also present was newly-elected Malaysian Bar president Ragunath Kesavan.

Earlier, the veteran lawyer claimed trial to the sedition charge before High Court judicial commissioner Azman Abdullah .

He was first charged with sedition in Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on March 17 in relation to his threat to sue the Perak ruler over the political crisis in the state.

The transfer of the case today follows an order signed by attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail dated March 16, for the case to be transferred to the High Court. Karpal did not object to the transfer.

Charged with uttering seditious statements

He is charged under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act for uttering seditious statements based on a transcript at his office at No 67, Jalan Pudu Lama, Kuala Lumpur between noon and 12.30pm on Feb 6, 2009.

If found guilty, he faces a maximum jail sentence of three years or a RM5,000 fine or both. Subsequent offences are punishable with a maximum jail sentence of five years.

Karpal has been released on a RM2,000 bail with one surety.

The underlined seditious statements were from a transcript of a press conference which Karpal had said Sultan Azlan Shah could be taken to court in his official capacity for authorising the removal of Pakatan Rakyat Perak Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin.

Karpal is alleged to have said: “With that ruling of the Federal Court which has stood the test of time for 32 years, beyond a pale of a doubt, the sultan of Perak has contravened Article 16(6) of the constitution of the state of Perak.

“In my view, until such time the assembly has invoked the provision of Article 33(1), both Mohd Osman Jailu and Jamaludin Mohd Radzi remained PKR assemblymen, together with Jelapang assemblywoman Hee Yit Foong remaining with the DAP until her resignation letter was subjected to determination by the assembly pursuant to Article 33(1), thereby causing the Pakatan Rakyat to have 31 members in the assembly of 60 members.

“It cannot therefore be said that the sultan of Perak (rightly) acted intra vires (when) in fact (he) acted ultra vires Article 16(6) when he determined that Menteri Besar (Mohd) Nizar Jamaludin had ceased to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the legislative assembly and was therefore required to tender resignation of the executive council over which he presided including his own resignation.

“Clearly the sultan of Perak cannot invoke his powers under Article 16(1), which states ‘His Royal Highness shall appoint an executive council’, to appoint a Barisan Nasional executive council with a new menteri besar and a new government. The government of Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaludin still had constitutional supremacy and legitimacy. The actions of the sultan of Perak are clearly premature.”

Represented by a team of 11 lawyers

Deputy Public Prosecutor Manoj Kurup will be prosecuting.

Karpal will be represented by a team of 11 lawyers, including himself and his four children - Jagdeep Singh. Ram Karpal Singh, Gobind Singh and Sangeet Kaur.

After claiming trial, Justice Azman asked whether Karpal preferred a trial or mention date.

Karpal replied he preferred a mention date within a month in a bid to ensure all documents held by the prosecution are provided to his legal team before the trial.

"Following that, the hearing dates could be fixed," he said.

Manoj however, said the court should fix the hearing and mention dates. He also gave his word the prosecution would hand over the documents within two weeks.

Azman agreed to fix April 22 as the mention date.

Outside the court, Karpal indicated he would make a preliminary objection on April 22 to the charge.

"You will have to see it on that day," the veteran lawyer said.

This is second time that Karpal has been charged with sedition. The first was in 2001 while he was the lead defence counsel for former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim during his corruption trial in 1999.

Karpal had allegedly stated that Anwar’s health had worsened “due to a high-level conspiracy to poison him with arsenic” while in detention. However, the charge was later withdrawn by Abdul Gani.