KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — Human rights watch Amnesty International today urged Malaysian authorities to drop its sedition charge against lawyer Eric Paulsen, saying it was ridiculous for someone to be punished so harshly over a tweet.

In a statement, the group’s Research Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Rupert Abbott said that the charge against Paulsen was politically motivated and should be dropped immediately.

“These politically motivated charges must be dropped immediately and unconditionally.

"It is ludicrous that someone could face three years in prison simply for a tweet critical of the authorities,” Abbott said in a statement.

He added that Paulsen would be considered as a prisoner of conscience should he be found guilty and jailed for a tweet critical against a government agency.

Paulsen was charged with sedition earlier today at the Sessions Court for accusing Malaysia's Islamic Development Department (Jakim) of promoting extremism.

His charge was under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948, which makes it a criminal offence for anyone publishing or reproducing seditious publications.  

If convicted, he could be fined no more than RM3, 000 or jailed less than three years or both for first time offenders. Subsequent offenders could be jailed up to five years.

Sessions Court judge Abdul Rashid Daud released Paulsen on a RM2,000 bail and fixed the next court date for mention of the case on April 27.