2 claim trial to insulting sultan

Fuad Aris Abd Rashid and Fatimah Maisurah Abdullah leaving the court with their lawyer, Wan Zainudin Wan Musa (right)

KUALA TERENGGANU: A husband and wife were jointly charged at the Sessions Court here with posting offensive comments on the Internet insulting the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, making it the second such case in the country.

Businessman Fuad Aris Abd Rashid, 35, and his wife, lawyer Fatimah Maisurah Abdullah, 34, yesterday claimed trial to two charges under Section 233 (1) (a) of the Multimedia Communication Act 1998.

They were accused of committing the offence at their residence in Kampong Tok Kaya, here on Feb 14. If convicted, they can be fined up to RM50,000, or imprisoned a maximum of one year, or both.

Senior deputy public prosecutor Datuk Azmi Ariffin prosecuted while the couple were represented by Wan Zainudin Wan Musa.

Sessions Court judge Mohd Khalid Abd Karim, however, fixed April 20 for re-mention after an application by Wan Zainudin to forward a representation to the Attorney-General's Chambers to consider dropping the charges against Fatimah as it is believed she was not involved in the posting.
He also fixed bail at RM6,000 in one surety for each suspect.

On Friday, six people were simultaneously charged at four places nationwide, in a landmark case, with the same offence.