Johor PKR chairperson Hassan Karim has been charged under both the Sedition Act and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Act for his remarks made against the Selangor sultan.

His lawyer, Michelle Yesudas from the NGO Lawyers for Liberty, said three charges were made against her client for three separate tweets he made during the Selangor menteri besar crisis last year.

Hassan was charged at the Sessions Court in Shah Alam today under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act and charged with an alternative charge under Section 233 (1)(a) of the MCMC Act.

He was released on police bail.

Michelle said the deputy public prosecutor had initially asked for RM15,000 for the three charges. The judge however ordered Hassan to post RM10,000 as bail.

Hassan’s case was fixed for mention on Dec 15.

Malay rights NGO Perkasa had, on Aug 16 last year, lodged a police report against Hassan for the tweets that it claimed had maligned Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

Hassan was arrested on Aug 29 was released on police bail after giving his statement.

Perkasa in its police report referred to a tweet which said: “Sultan jenis apa dia ni? Ketika Selangor dalam krisis serius dia lari luar negeri.” (What kind of sultan is this? When Selangor is in crisis, he runs overseas.)

A separate tweet urged the sultan and then Selangor menteri besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to learn from the Perak crisis of 2009.