Pro-Pakatan Rakyat blogger Yusuf Al Siddique Suratman, known by his online moniker Milosuam, was today charged with causing mischief under the Penal Code and allowed bail of RM15,000.

Milosuam was charged in a magistrate's court in Kota Kinabalu , under Section 505 of the Penal Code. He had earlier been arrested and investigated under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

Milosuam claimed trial, but will spend tonight in jail as the court ordered that his passport be handed over before he is released on bail.

He was arrested just before last month's general election for a posting on his blog about ‘Ops Daulat', in which he published a letter allegedly sent to all police chiefs in Sabah during the incursion by militants from Sulu in the Philippines.

In the posting, Milosuam questioned the wisdom of the government in not informing the people about possible chaos in Sabah , as claimed in the supposed internal letters.

'AG breached Criminal Procedure Code'

Lawyer Latheefa Koya, who represented Milosuam when he was arrested in the peninsula on May 2, said the attorney-general (AG) had breached Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure Code by charging the blogger in Kota Kinabalu.

cartoon-o-phobia zunar press conference in malaysiakini latheefa koya "The Criminal Procedure Code clearly says that a person must be charged in the place where the offence allegedly took place. But the police told us he will be charged in Sabah because the police report was made there," Latheefa said.

She said Milosuam's lawyers could not represent him because he was being charged in Sabah, thereby forcing him to find another lawyer.

Latheefa also said the bail amount was a burden because it was about "three or four times" the actual fine Milosuam could face if he was found guilty.

"Section 505 of the Penal Code does not set a minimum fine, but a jail term of up to two years can also be included," she said.

The reason given by the court in setting such a high bail amount, according to Latheefa, was because Milosuam was from peninsular Malaysia.

"We struggled to get the money to secure his bail, but he has to spend the night in jail as they are waiting to submit his passport to court," she said.

Milosuam is being represented by Veana Ansari.