Lawyer Gunamalar Joorindanjn has questioned the Attorney-General's Chambers' decision to charge her client for an allegedly offensive Facebook post last year.
In a statement to Malaysiakini, she pointed out that similar charges were dropped against Pakatan Harapan-aligned individuals, including Sungai Buloh MP R Sivarasa.
Gunamalar is representing Telok Bahang Umno deputy chief Mohd Rizuad Mohd Azudin, who was charged under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 yesterday.
It is learnt the charge pertains to a Facebook post by Mohd Rizuad, deemed offensive to a fellow Umno leader in the same division, last year.
The lawyer said she would write a letter to attorney-general Tommy Thomas regarding this matter.
"My view is that justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done.
"Recently, the AG withdrew the charges under the same section against Syarul Ema Abu Samah @ Ratu Naga and Sivarasa for making offensive comments about (former premier) Najib Abdul Razak.
“That action was in line with Harapan's policy to get rid of oppressive laws," she added.
However, Gunamalar said she was surprised that the AGC is pressing on with a similar charge against her client.
"I believe it is so because of my client's affiliation with Umno," she alleged.
She also pointed out that a reasonable period of time has passed since the alleged offence and Mohd Rizuad's (photo) charging.
Despite this, she said the prosecution team still requested another date to hand over crucial documents under Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code to the defence team.
"Why charge if the prosecution is not ready to proceed with the trial?
"My client is now out on bail (of RM3,000). I will be writing to the AG to withdraw the said charge. Otherwise, I will have to wait for the said documents before advising my client on the next course of action," she added.
'AG - Please be consistent'
Meanwhile, Penang-based law lecturer Shamsher Singh Thind also voiced out against Mohd Rizuad's case on Facebook.
"I am actually surprised the AG still preferred a charge under this offence, although he has recently withdrawn a charge against Sivarasa on two counts of uploading a fake Timemagazine cover featuring Najib's image on his Facebook page two years ago. So AG, please be consistent," he said.
Apart from Gunamalar, lawyer PMJ Chahel is also representing Mohd Rizuad.
On June 28, Sivarasa, who is also rural development deputy minister, was acquitted by the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur over a charge of tweeting the said fake Timemagazine cover.
This is after deputy public prosecutor Mohd Sophian Zakaria from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) informed the court that the prosecution had accepted the letter of representation.
A letter of representation is a letter sent to the relevant prosecuting authority, usually the AGC, requesting them to drop or reduce some or all of the charges brought against the accused.
Sivarasa had claimed trial on April 15, 2016, to two charges under the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998.
The doctored image he had posted on his Facebook featured Najib with the words "No 2 on the most corrupt list". The post was taken down later on the same day after he was informed it was fake. -Mkini
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