Karpal Singh To Make An Issue Of Sedition Charge 

DAP chairman Karpal Singh

GEORGE TOWN : DAP chairman Karpal Singh said he will make an issue out of the sedition charge against him, in the upcoming general election.

“The election is near, let the people decide,” he said.

Karpal Singh said the attorney-general should withdraw the charges against him and Human Rights Party leader, P.Uthayakumar, as the Sedition Act 1948 was no longer relevant following its abolishment.

On July 11, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that the government had decided to abolish the Sedition Act 1948 and replace it with the National Harmony Act.

“There was a major announcement (on the Sedition Act abolishment) but no bona fide support of the matter by withdrawing the charges against me and Uthayakumar,” he told reporters here today.

Karpal Singh was charged with uttering seditious statements against the Sultan of Perak three years ago.

He said the trial was set to resume next Friday on Aug 3.

“I made an application on the grounds that the charge against me was unconstitutional and contravened article 8(1) of Federal Constitution which states all persons are equal before law and entitled to equal protection of the law,” he said.