Comedy club couple charged

KUALA LUMPUR: A couple under fire for allegedly pulling off an indecent act at a comedy club’s open mic night and then uploading a video of it on social media has been charged in court.

Siti Nuramira Abdullah, 26, and her boyfriend V. Alexander Navin, 38, pleaded not guilty to three charges in different courts.

Siti Nuramira was charged under Section 298A(1)(a) of the Penal Code for causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will, or prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity, on the grounds of religion.

If found guilty, she can be sentenced to a jail term of two to five years.

Clad in a black jacket, yellow blouse and black pants, Siti Nuramira arrived at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court at around 9am before being taken into the courtroom in handcuffs.

Deputy public prosecutor Najihah Farhana Che Awang asked that no bail be offered, saying the offence was non-bailable.

“If the court wants to give bail, we suggest RM50,000 as the case involves public interest,” she said.

However, counsel R. Sivaraj asked for bail of RM5,000, citing her financial situation.

“My client who works as an executive officer in the private sector earns about RM3,000 a month.

“She also gave her full cooperation during the investigation and is not a flight risk,” he said.

Sessions Court judge Siti Aminah Ghazali set bail at RM20,000 with one surety.

The accused was also instructed to report herself at the Brickfields police station on Aug 15 and surrender her passport.

She was also warned against making any statement in print or on social media.

It is unclear if she posted bail. The court also fixed Aug 18 for mention.

At the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court, Bernama reported that Navin was slapped with two charges for making and sharing an offensive posting on his Instagram account on June 5 and on his YouTube account on June 16.

Both charges were filed under Section 233 (1) (a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

He faces a maximum fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment for up to one year or both. He is also liable to a further fine of RM1,000 for every day during which the offence is continued after conviction.

The court allowed him bail of RM20,000 with one surety on both charges and set Sept 1 for mention.

Siti Nuramira was arrested on July 9 while her boyfriend was arrested on July 11 after a 54-second video of a woman taking off her baju kurung and headscarf, revealing her low-cut blouse and short skirt underneath.

She had earlier claimed she had memorised 15 juz of the Quran.

Both of them are also being investigated by the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) for allegedly insulting Islam.

Under the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997, those found guilty of insulting or causing contempt against Islam can be fined up to RM3,000 or jailed up to two years, or both.