Sedition Act not usually used but Sanusi's case different, says PM Anwar

SEKINCHAN: The Sedition Act is usually not used against anyone, but the issue at hand was different in the case of caretaker Kedah mentri besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

"This is a question of the position and sovereignty of the Malay Rulers which we must uphold and preserve," the Prime Minister said on Tuesday (July 18).

Anwar, who was speaking to reporters after launching the Selangor level Agro Madani event, was responding to questions relating to the arrest and subsequent charging of Muhammad Sanusi on Tuesday morning.

Sanusi was slapped with two counts of sedition under the Sedition Act 1948 at the Selayang Sessions Court earlier Tuesday.

"You also have to see who lodged the report, it was members of the Selangor Royal Council.

"And what was His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor's comment yesterday?

"That the case is not settled," Anwar said.

Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafudfin Idris Shah had separate audiences with Selangor PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi and Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan on Monday (July 17).

Muhammad Sanusi, who is from PAS, had allegedly made the disparaging statement at a ceramah in Selangor on July 11.

To a question about the Kedah mentri besar's 3am arrest, Anwar said there was a need to ask about the process.

"From what I know, the police monitored and searched, and when they found (Sanusi), they arrested," he said.