.jpg "Co-founder & Executive Director of Lawyers for Liberty, Eric Paulsen speaks at a forum on the Sedition Act at Wisma HELP, Kuala Lumpur, March 12, 2015. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Yusof Mat Isa")
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — Lawyer Eric Paulsen and former Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S. Arutchelvan today withdrew their applications to refer a question of law pertaining to the constitutionality of the Sedition Act 1948.
Following which, High Court judge Datuk Azman Abdullah dismissed their applications.
Prior to that, Paulsen and Arutchelvan informed the court that they were withdrawing their applications as the Sessions Court, in a decision made last August 15, had acquitted and discharged them of charges under the Sedition Act.
On February 5, 2015, Paulsen, represented by lawyer Zaid Malek, pleaded not guilty to a charge with publishing a seditious statement alleging that the Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim) was promoting extremism.
He was charged with posting the statement in English on his Twitter page at the D5 criminal investigation unit in Bukit Aman, here, at 8pm on January 10, 2015.
Meanwhile, Arutchelvan, represented by lawyer New Sin Yew, was charged with making seditious posting on Facebook on a Federal Court’s decision in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy case.
The offence was allegedly committed at the D5 office in Bukit Aman at noon on February 12, 2015.
The charges against them were made under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948, which provides a fine of up to RM5,000 or imprisonment for a maximum of three years, or both, upon conviction. — Bernama
