The charge against Tebing Tinggi assemblyperson Ong Boon Piow for possession of DVDs not approved by the film censorship board has been deferred.

NONE According to Ong, the charge was supposed to have been read out at the Ipoh Magistrate's Court thiis morning but was deferred on the instruction of the state prosecution chief.

“They are waiting for further instructions from Putrajaya,” he said when contacted.

Ong, who is from DAP, was ordered by the police yesterday evening to appear before at the Magistrate's Court today. Prosecutors were present this morning.

He was expected to be charged under Section 6 (1) (a) of the Film Censorship Act 2002. If found guilty, Ong can be jailed for up to three years, fined between RM5,000 to RM30,000 or both.

The offending DVDs contain footage of the March 3, 2009 emergency session of the Perak state legislative assembly proceeding held under a tree, recorded by Ong. 

He was alleged to have committed the offence at the Chin Woo Hall in Ipoh on March 29 during a party function where the DVD was also screened.

M Kulasegaran, the charge was registered at the court to be presided by magistrate Fauziah Hani, but he was informed by DPP Mark Netto that the matter has been deferred to an unspecified date.

BN men also in trouble?

Attempts to obtain a confirmation from Netto proved futile as he asked reports to instead approach Ong’s lawyers for comments.

NONE Despite being flanked by four lawyers and de facto Perak Pakatan Rakyat leader Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin, Ong appeared tense at his maiden court appearance.

Ong said he had mixed feelings over the latest developments and hoped that the Attorney-General’s Chambers would drop the charge against him.

He said that he was merely doing his duties as an elected representative, which include informing his constituents about the details of the assembly.

“If they (the police) want to charge me for having 23 DVDs without censorship certificates then it is only proper that they also charge BN leaders like MCA state executive Dr Mah Heng Soon and Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir.

“They, too, did not get approval for the 50,000 DVD copies of the (May 7, 2009) Perak assembly sitting that was produced to be distributed to the public,” he said.

Similarly, Perak DAP secretary Nga Kor Ming cited Article 8 of the federal constitution which stipulates equality before the law.

“There should not be double standards in prosecuting only Ong while leaving out Zambry and Mah,” said Nga, who is also a trained lawyer.