Tian Chua penalised for sedition, but remains MP for Batu
KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court yesterday penalised Tian Chua for sedition but the PKR vicepresident escaped disqualification as the MP for Batu.
Judge Zulqarnain Hassan sentenced Tian Chua, 53, to three months’ jail and fined him RM1,800 over a speech of a seditious nature he had made in 2013. An elected representative is only disqualified from being an MP or state assemblyman if he or she is sentenced to at least one year in jail or fined more than RM2,000.
The judge found Tian Chua, whose real name is Chua Tian Chang, guilty of having committed the offence at a talk at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Jalan Maharajalela here between 8.55pm and 11.15pm on May 13, 2013.
Tian Chua had pleaded not guilty on May 29, 2013, to delivering the speech with the alleged intention to incite the people to topple the government illegally.
Zulqarnain ordered Tian Chua to serve the jail sentence from yesterday and to serve another six months’ jail if he failed to pay the fine. Tian Chua paid the fine.
The judge allowed a stay of execution pending appeal to the High Court and retained the RM5,000 bail in one surety. DPP Julia Ibrahim conducted the prosecution while Tian Chua was represented by counsel N.Surendran and Latheefa Koya. Zulqarnain said the words Tian Chua used in his speech had a seditious tendency.
“I am satisfied that a seditious tendency is sufficient for this offence because the honourable member had words that included ‘bangkit’ (rise) and ‘turun ke jalan raya’ (take to the streets).
“This spirited speech was made ( by Tian Chua) after the 13th General Election. Looking at the speech as a whole, there seems to be a tendency to get the people onto the streets,” he said, adding that the court also considered the public interest.
Zulqarnain said the defence failed to raise a reasonable doubt. DPP Julia had asked the court to impose a jail sentence and a fine, saying the offence was serious and necessitated a deterrent penalty.
Defence lawyer Surendran requested a fine of less than RM2,000, saying Tian Chua was an MP and the words uttered did not call for violence to be committed.
“No undesirable incidents happened afterwards or because of the speech in the hall or elsewhere,” he said.
Four witnesses appeared for the prosecution in the case while the defence produced two witnesses, namely Tian Chua himself and former opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. — Bernama