The Court of Appeal today allowed an application by controversial bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee to stay court proceedings.

A three-man bench headed by Linton Albert allowed the application pending the disposal of the bloggers’ appeal against the High Court dismissal of their application to strike out one of three charges of allegedly having ridiculed Muslims and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The panel, in a unanimous decision, allowed the application after hearing submissions from the couple’s counsel Chong Joo Tian and deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin.

Justice Linton, who sat with Justices David Wong Dak Wah and Zakaria Sam, also allowed Chong’s application for the Jan 8 to 10 dates of the trial at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to be vacated.  

Chong told reporters later that no date had been set by the Court of Appeal to hear the appeal against the High Court decision of Nov 21.

The duo are facing a charge pertaining to uploading a picture of them eating 'bak kut teh' (a pork soup dish) with the caption, ‘Selamat Berbuka Puasa with bak kut teh’, which was likely to stir inter-faith conflict, at a restaurant in Dang Wangi on July 11 and 12 last year.

The controversial pair are also jointly charged under the Incitement Act 1948 with publishing inciting content, namely the same picture and caption, on their Facebook link https://www.facebook.com/alvivi.swingers at 568-14-18, Kompleks Mutiara Jalan Ipoh, Batu 3½ in Kuala Lumpur.  

The third charge, under the Film Censorship Act 2002, involves the posting of pornographic pictures on http://alviviswingers.tumblr.com/ , between July 6 and 7 at the same place.

- Bernama