Alvivi finally get bail: Don't listen to "outside noises" - lawyer pleads with court

KUALA LUMPUR -The Kuala Lumpur High Court has granted bail for Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee but impounded their passports. Nonetheless, the duo can go home as soon as the bail is settled by the families, said their lawyer Chong Joo Tian.

Bail was set at RM10,000 for each of the 3 charges slapped on them. This means Alvin and Vivian will have to come up with RM30,000 each.

Chong had pleaded with the Court not to listen to "outside noises" and be fair to their clients, whom they claim had already shown remorse and were now being punished in a "vindictive and punitive" manner even before they were found guilty.

"The decision to deny bail bail was made to appease others who were not in the court," Chong Joo Tian, the lead defense counsel told the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Thursday.

The defense had earlier on succeeded in overcoming a preliminary objection put in by the prosecution at the 11th hour to oppose their application for bail for their clients.

The court is still in session to hear the two applications filed by the defense, namely for bail and then to have separate trials for the 3 charges slapped on the notorious bloggers who had offended the Muslim community with an outrageous Ramadan greeting.

During the hearing, Chong told the court that Alvin had been placed under isolated detention for a week by the prison authorities.

"This is vindictive and punitive. Even before he is tried, he is being punished," said Chong.

Alvin's mother, who was in court listened intently, nodding her head at this.

Alvin, 25, and Vivian, 24, were jointly charged under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act, subsection 5(1) of the Film Censorship Act 2002 (Act 620) and Section 298A(1) of the Penal Code. The clear "overkill" attracted anger from the non-Muslims and also drew ridicule from the international community as the duo had no previous record or brushes with the law and their action was not in anyway criminal.

Alvivi, as the duo are also known as, had posted on their Facebook page a photo of themselves eating bak kut teh (a herbal soup dish that is usually made with pork, but which can also be vegetarian or made with chicken or other meats) with the greeting Selamat Berbuka Puasa or Happy Breaking Fast.

They described their meal as “fragrant, delicious and appetising bak kut teh”, and also put at the corner of the photo a 'halal' or kosher logo.

It sparked an uproar in the Malay-Muslim community, and many political observers also believed it set the stage for Muslim hardliners in Prime Minister Najib Razak's party to stir up the issue.

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Malaysia Chronicle