Former de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim was charged in a Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur today with causing 'annoyance by intentionally making statements that were hurtful to others'.

Zaid pleaded not guilty and Sessions Court judge Jagjit Singh fixed Jan 22 for mention of the case.

The judge also denied the prosecution's request to set bail for Zaid, saying the court did not see Zaid as a flight risk.

Zaid was charged under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act for a speech made on Sept 3 in which he called for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

He is represented by M Puravalen and Amarjit Sidhu.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, the former Umno minister said the court's decision not to impose bail was "correct" and "kind".

"(That is) a very correct decision. A very kind decision," Zaid said.

In raising a preliminary objection, Puravalen told the judge that his interpretation of the charge sheet was that "causing annoyance to others" referred to the general public.

'Words of annoyance not specified'

"In this case, it's a specific reference to Najib but I interprete it (as being an annoyance) to the public at large," he said.

"And in the application for the summons it does not specify which are the words that are jelik (annoyance)," he added.

Zaid also told reporters that he hoped that after this, no one else would be slapped with the same charge as he has been.

"I think there are about 20 million people who want Najib to resign.

"It'll be ridiculous to our court system if you want to charge all of them," he said.

It was earlier reported that Zaid could have faced a sedition charge as he was investigated under the Sedition Act for the speech he delivered at the Royal Selangor Club in September.

He had urged the people to rally behind former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has been calling for the removal of Najib as prime minister.

The full text of his speech was uploaded onto his blog under a Sept 2 posting titled 'Rally Behind Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad'.

If found guilty, Zaid can be fined up to RM50,000, jailed for up to a year or both.