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Political activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin has been issued a ‘gag order’ from the Malaysia High Court for his comments which speculated that Forest City, Johor, will house a second casino.
According to Malaysian news reports, the High Court has issued the gag order on the activist, also known as Chegubard, stating that he is not allowed to issue any statement or comments related to the casino project in Forest City until the disposal of the case.
Judge Datuk Abu Bakar Katar, quoted in his judgement, said: “The court is of the view that Article 10 of the Federal Constitution on freedom of speech to respondent (Badrul Hisham) has a limit and is not an absolute right.”
He also added that the respondent “did not need to use social media to defend his rights on the charges he was facing and would get a fair trial as guaranteed in Article 5 (1) of the Constitution, in addition to the respondent being represented by an experienced and competent lawyer.”
The ruling was made after a review application by the prosecution was allowed against the decision of the Sessions Court that rejected the gag order application.
Badrul Hishan was arrested in April and accused of “making seditious remarks on his Facebook account under the name ‘Chegubard’ on April 26.”
The activist pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court to charges of “issuing seditious remarks related to the casino project in Forest City.”
Regarding the Forest City Casino speculation, Malaysian PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has denied such claims as ‘lies,’ and the other two parties allegedly involved, Genting and Berjaya, have also issued official statements refuting the claims.
