KUALA LUMPUR: A woman charged with insulting Islam while she was on stage at a comedy club here and her partner who uploaded the video online have both posted bail.
The couple's lawyer R. Sivaraj, who confirmed this, said a bail of RM40,000 had been posted which would see the release of Nuramira Abdullah, 26, and V. Alexander Navin, 38.
He added that the money for the bail was raised via crowdfunding and it has since been posted at the Sessions Court, here, and in Petaling Jaya, where the pair were charged, respectively.
Sivaraj, however, couldn't confirm when the couple would be released from the lock-up. Nuramira is being held in Beranang and Alexander in Kuala Kubu Bharu.
"We understand the technicalities of the process, the whole transportation arrangement or having to do Covid-19 swab tests. But once the bail is paid, they should be released immediately, so we're not sure under what jurisdiction they are still being held in custody.
"But we hope they will be released sometime today or tomorrow," he told reporters when met today.
Nuramira was accused of insulting Islam by admitting she was a Muslim and had memorised 15 juzuk (chapters) of the Quran before taking off her baju kurung at the Crackhouse Comedy Club in Taman Tun Dr Ismail on June 4.
She was charged under Section 298A of the Penal Code for causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will, or prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity on grounds of religion.
She is facing a maximum of five years' imprisonment if found guilty. The court allowed her RM20,000 bail with one surety and set Aug 18 for her case mention.
Meanwhile, Alexander was charged with two counts of improper use of network facilities by making and initiating the transmission of offensive videos on Instagram and YouTube.
Both the charges were filed under Section 233 (1) (a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and punishable under Section 233 (3) of the same law.
If found guilty, he is liable to a maximum fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment for up to one year or both and shall also be liable to a further fine of RM1,000 for every day during which the offence is continued after conviction.
The court allowed him bail of RM20,000 with one surety on both charges and set Sept 1 for mention for submission of documents.