Sanusi acquitted of sedition case linked to Selangor ruler

Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has been discharged and acquitted of a sedition case linked to the Selangor sultan.

His counsel Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud confirmed that the Shah Alam High Court granted the full acquittal this morning.

Previously, Sanusi sent a representation to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to withdraw the sedition case against him.

Three months ago, the accused tendered an apology to Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah for his comments during the Selangor state election campaign in Selayang on July 11 last year.

Prior to Sanusi’s apology in September, the AG had rejected the accused’s representation over the criminal case.

Awang said that the full acquittal is only over a single sedition charge involving the Selangor sultan and that the second charge involving the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong (who is now the Pahang ruler), will still proceed to full trial.

No wish to continue

Earlier during proceedings before High Court judge Aslam Zainuddin, deputy public prosecutor Masri Mohd Daud informed the prosecution did not wish to continue with the Selangor ruler-linked sedition charge against Sanusi.

The prosecutor then applied for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) against the Kedah menteri besar.

However, Sanusi’s lawyer Awang countered that the accused should instead be granted a full acquittal.

The defence counsel said the criminal court can grant the full acquittal as there should not be a violation of the doctrine of the Sword of Damocles, whereby a criminal case hovers over an accused without a clear outcome.

Aslam then acquitted Sanusi on the first charge and set Feb 24 to 28 next year for a full trial of the second sedition charge.

On July 18 last year, before the Selayang Sessions Court, Sanusi claimed trial to the two sedition charges linked to his ceramah seven days earlier.

Both charges accused him of uttering words that had the tendency to incite disloyalty against a ruler.

Charges

According to the first charge, Sanusi allegedly said the Kedah sultanate was the only one in the country with uninterrupted lineage and that the Kedah ruler would not have appointed Amirudin Shari as menteri besar to head the state’s administration.

According to the second charge, Sanusi purportedly questioned if the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong had indeed decreed that a coalition government be formed after the general election in November 2022.

The Jeneri assemblyperson was alleged to have committed the offences around 11pm in Taman Selayang Mutiara, Selangor, on July 11, 2023.

The charges were framed under Section 4(1)(a) of the Sedition Act 1948 which criminalises acts of seditious tendency.

Sanusi can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to RM5,000, or both for each offence.

The case was later transferred to the Shah Alam High Court.

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