The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today acquitted Deputy Rural Development Minister R Sivarasa on a 2015 sedition charge.

Sessions Court judge Gan Chee Keong allowed the acquittal after the prosecution, led by deputy public prosecutor Faizah Ismail, informed the court that the Attorney-General’s Chambers has accepted the defendant’s representation letter.

Sivarasa had been charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948 for his speech during the 2015 Kita Lawan rally, in which he was said to have criticised the judiciary on PKR de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim's imprisonment for sodomy.

"The charge against me was only politically motivated. I did not commit any crime. So I am glad about the acquittal.

"Under the Pakatan Harapan government, we are entering the new era of real democracy.

“In a few months, we will see the Sedition Act abolished," Sivarasa told Malaysiakini outside the court today.

Prior to this, the Sungai Buloh MP was on June 28 this year acquitted by the Sessions Court on a charge under the Communications and Multimedia Act for tweeting a Time magazine cover.

Deputy public prosecutor from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, Mohd Sophian Zakaria, informed the court that the prosecution has accepted the letter of representation.

The letter, dated June 27, was written by the Attorney-General's Chambers head of prosecution, Othman Yusof, who stated that the chambers had agreed to the withdrawal of the charge against Sivarasa.

Sivarasa was accused of posting the Time magazine cover on his Facebook account featuring then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak with the words "No 2 on the most corrupt list", though the post was taken down later the same day after he was informed it was fake.