PUTRAJAYA: Sri Muda state assemblyman Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei yesterday withdrew his appeal at the Federal Court here over a High Court’s dismissal of his application to have his sedition charge struck out.
His counsel Joshua Tay informed the court of the withdrawal, saying his client had filed an originating summons at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur last Sept 15 to challenge the constitutionality of the Sedition Act.
A five-member panel led by Federal Court judge Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop subsequently struck out the appeal.
The other judges presiding on the panel were Federal Court judges Tan Sri Hasan Lah, Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, Datuk Seri Abu Samah Nordin and Datuk Ramly Ali.
Mat Shuhaimi, 46, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat assemblyman, was charged in 2011 with posting an allegedly seditious article in his blog, srimuda.blogspot.com on the appointment of Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi as the new Selangor state secretary.
He was accused of committing the offence at Pusat Khidmat Rakyat, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla, Kota Kemuning in Shah Alam on Dec 30, 2010.
On April 1, 2011, Mat Shuhaimi filed a notice of motion at the High Court in Shah Alam seeking to have his sedition charge struck out on grounds that the Sedition Act was unconstitutional as it conflicted with Article 10 of the Federal Constitution which guaranteed freedom of speech.
The High Court in Shah Alam had on Aug 26, 2011, dismissed his application to strike out the sedition charge, and he was also unsuccessful in his appeal at the Court of Appeal which was dismissed on May 17, last year.
Outside the court, Tay told reporters that the High Court had fixed Jan 8 for hearing of Mat Shuhaimi’s application challenging the Sedition Act.
He said on May 20, this year the Federal Court had indicated that it had no jurisdiction to hear his client’s appeal to strike out the charge on grounds that the matter originated from the Sessions Court, and it must end in the Court of Appeal.
Awang Amardajaya Awang Mahmud was the deputy public prosecutor. — Bernama