KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has dismissed claims that the legal action taken against Kedah caretaker Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor was due to the upcoming state election, slated on Aug 12.
"The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) decided to charge not because of the state election...
"(But) the charges were after the AGC found that there was strong evidence to charge him in court," he told reporters after attending Mara Educators' Day 2023 here today.
Present was Mara chairman Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.
Zahid, who is Barisan Nasional chairman and Umno president, said if the incumbent Jeneri assemblyman believes that he did nothing wrong, the court is the best platform for him to answer all the accusations and defend himself.
Earlier today, a Pas leader claimed that the charges made against Sanusi were due to the upcoming state election.
Pendang member of parliament Datuk Awang Hashim said the prosecution was to cripple the progress of Pas and Perikatan Nasional (PN) ahead of the state election.
"We leave it to the legal process, there is no problem with it. Just that we want to show our solidarity of Sanusi and as we are facing state polls in six states, this is the climax," he told reporters outside the Selayang court complex here, this morning.
Meanwhile, to a question why Sanusi was detained by police at 3am this morning, Zahid replied; "It is the enforcement agency's (the police) right to do so.
"They can do that (detain) at any hour (that is deemed suitable to do so), as they are working 24 hours."
Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) secretary-general Amir Hariri Abd Hadi in a brief post on Twitter questioned the need to arrest 3am.
PKR's Bayan Baru member of parliament Sim Tze Tzin in a Facebook post said that Sanusi's remarks indeed had insulted the royals, however, he said 3am arrest was not reasonable.
Earlier, Sanusi pleaded not guilty to two counts of uttering seditious remarks that could incite disloyalty towards the Rulers.
The outspoken Pas lawmaker made the plea after the charges were read before two separate Sessions Court Judges Nor Rajiah Mat Zin and Osman Affendi Mohd Salleh today.
During a PN ceramah in Selayang, Sanusi was reported to have belittled Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari's appointment as Selangor Menteri Besar by the Sultan.
Sanusi also drew comparisons between the Sultan of Kedah (Al-Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah) and the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, saying Sultan Sharafuddin's choice was "cokia" (substandard).
Sanusi allegedly committed the offence at about 11pm near Selayang Jaya on July 11.
The offence falls under Section 4(1)(a) of the Seditious Act which carries a maximum of three years imprisonment and an RM5,000 fine upon conviction.