PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has fixed March 13 for the hearing of an appeal filed by political activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin, also known as Chegubard, relating to a witness statement in his sedition case.
The date was fixed by a three-judge panel chaired by Justice Azman Abdullah on Friday (March 6).
He also ordered the appellant to file submissions two days before the hearing date.
Other judges on the panel were Justices Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz and Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid.
Badrul Hisham is appealing against a High Court decision that set aside a Sessions Court order for the prosecution to reveal a witness statement to him.
He is seeking the witness statement of Bloomberg reporter S. Ram Anand to bolster his defence in a sedition case involving a purported casino project at Forest City.
Earlier, his lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali told the court that the appellant would be filing their appeal petition soon as they had just received the appeals record.
Muhammad Rafique said the sedition case at the Johor Bahru Sessions Court was entering the defence stage on April 6.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Siew Wee confirmed the matter and said the prosecution was prepared to proceed with the appeal on March 13.
On Jan 27, the Johor Bahru High Court set aside the Sessions Court order for the prosecution to reveal the witness statement recorded under Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The High Court ruled that the statement was privileged and could not be disclosed, adding that the reporter could still be interviewed by the defence and called to testify.
The Sessions Court had earlier on Dec 11, 2025, allowed the application by Badrul Hisham to have the witness statement disclosed to him.
On April 30, 2024, Badrul Hisham was charged at the Sessions Court for sedition over his social media statement regarding the Forest City casino project.
According to the charge sheet, he allegedly published the seditious material via the Facebook account "Che'GuBard" at Mutiara Villa, Bukit Bintang at 6.30pm on April 26, 2024.
The charge under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 carries a maximum fine of RM5,000 or a maximum three years imprisonment, or both, if convicted.
