DAP has urged the attorney-general (A-G) to withdraw the sedition charges against its assemblyman R. S. N. Rayer, over his "celaka Umno" (damn Umno) remark made two years ago. The party's secretary-general, Lim Guan Eng, made the call to A-G Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali after his decision to drop sedition charges against a few government critics. The Attorney-General's Chambers recently withdrew sedition charges against DAP vice-chairman Teresa Kok, Universiti Malaya law professor Azmi Sharom, and Johor PKR chairman Hassan Karim. "I call on the A-G to withdraw the sedition charges against Rayer because he has done nothing wrong. "We hope for justice and DAP will continue to stand by Rayer," he said at Rayer's Chinese New Year open house last night. Lim also praised Rayer, the Seri Delima rep who is popular among the people for his service-oriented approach, for not neglecting his duties to his constituents despite having to face his legal battles. In August 2014, Rayer was slapped with two sedition charges over his controversial "celaka, celaka Umno" remark in May that year. He was first charged with sedition for the remark on May 20 during the assembly sitting. He was later slapped with a second charge under the act, also for his "celaka" remark which he allegedly repeated during the Bukit Gelugor by-election talk on May 22. He is now applying to strike out the charges, raising preliminary objections to whether the court has the jurisdiction to hear the case because the alleged offence was made during the proceedings of a state assembly. Rayer's defence team, led by Gobind Singh Deo, is also questioning whether the words he uttered could amount to a seditious tendency. The A-G yesterday dropped a sedition charge against Hassan, barely a week after withdrawing a similar charge against Azmi. On November 20 last the AG withdrew the charge against Kok over her "ONEderful Malaysia CNY 2014" video aired in conjunction with the Chinese New Year. – February 18, 2016.]]>
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