Malaysian lawyer Eric Paulsen has pleaded “not guilty” to a sedition charge over his tweet accusing a government Islamic body Jakim of promoting extremism.
POSTED: 05 Feb 2015 12:40
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian lawyer Eric Paulsen on Thursday (Feb 5) pleaded “not guilty” to a sedition charge over his tweet accusing a government Islamic body of promoting extremism.
The executive director of human rights and law reform advocacy Lawyers for Liberty was charged for his Jan 9 tweet, read out in court as: “Jakim is promoting extremism every Friday. Govt needs to address that if serious about addressing extremism in Malaysia”.
Jakim is Malaysia’s Islamic Development Department.
Paulsen was granted bail and has claimed trial to the charges under Section 4(1)(c) of the nation’s controversial Sedition Act. He maintains that his tweet was a criticism of Jakim as a government body and was not an insult to Islam as decried by his critics.
– CNA/jb