KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian opposition politician was charged with sedition Monday over a blog posting that allegedly insulted the royal ruler of central Selangor state, his lawyer said. State assemblyman Shuhaimi Shafiei was charged over a December blog posting that prosecutors claimed questioned the powers of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, his lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad said. The allegation stems from a row over the appointment of a new chief civil servant in Selangor which was bitterly opposed by the opposition —which rules Malaysia's richest state — but received the sultan's assent. “Suhaimi has pleaded not guilty to the sedition charge and we also informed the judge that we would be filing a motion with the High Court challenging the constitutionality of the Sedition Act,” he said. – Agence France
