KUALA LUMPUR – Bersatu information committee member Badrul Hisham Shaharin, or Chegubard, has been slapped with another gag order, this time by the Johor Bahru High Court today, regarding a news report on plans for a casino in Forest City, Johor.
Judge Datuk Abu Bakar Katar made the decision after allowing the prosecution’s application to review the sessions court’s decision to reject the gag order on April 30.
He said the sessions court judge had failed to consider that without a gag order, there was a real and substantial risk that Badrul would repeat the same alleged incitement against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
He also said it was not the Agong’s position to answer to issues raised on social media, while the freedom of expression that Badrul had to use social media to publish content was subjected to legal restrictions.
“Therefore, the court issued a gag order on the respondent, his agent or representative from posting or commenting about the case on social media until the trial is completed,” he said.
Badrul, 45, was charged under the Sedition Act 1948 at the Johor Bahru sessions court on April 30 for allegedly making seditious statements over the alleged casino project in Forest City via his Facebook account.
At that time, the sessions court judge had dismissed the prosecution’s application for a gag order on Badrul.
An earlier gag order was imposed by the Kuala Lumpur sessions court when Badrul was charged on April 29 with two counts of making seditious remarks and defaming the King over the casino issue. – May 20, 2024