Chegubard to face defamation, sedition charges tomorrow

Bersatu activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin is to face charges of sedition and criminal defamation, his lawyer said.

PETALING JAYA: Bersatu activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin, popularly known as Chegubard, will be charged at the Kuala Lumpur cybercrime sessions court tomorrow, says his lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali.

Rafique said Bukit Aman just confirmed the matter with him.

Badrul will face two charges at the cyber sessions court at 9.30am, one for criminal defamation and the second for sedition. The first charge has to do with Badrul “using the name of the king”, according to a media notice sent by Rafique.

The second charge involves allegedly seditious statements posted online concerning the meeting last month between the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, and KK Mart founder Chai Kee Kan last month.

Sultan Ibrahim granted Chai an audience following a controversy over over “Allah” socks discovered in one of the convenience store chain’s outlets. During the 15-minute meeting, Chai apologised to the king over the fiasco.

Badrul was summoned by police on April 8 over a posting on the meeting.

Yesterday, Rafique said Badrul was arrested by police and detained at the Dang Wangi police headquarters. He was later remanded until tomorrow evening over a posting on a Bloomberg report of talks purportedly held between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Berjaya founder Vincent Tan and Genting Group’s Lim Kok Thay on opening a casino at Forest City in Johor.

Anwar, Berjaya and Genting have since denied the Bloomberg report, with the prime minister calling for action to be taken against the media company over its allegation.