Malaysian politician charged with sedition over remarks on royal family member

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) — A Malaysian politician was arrested in a pre-dawn raid on Tuesday, charged with sedition for comments involving a member of the Southeast Asian country's royal family.

Sanusi Md. Nor, the caretaker minister of the northwestern Kedah city, claimed he was "being subjected to political persecution and silenced" through legal proceedings related to comments he made on political opponents and the royal head of Selangor state.

The move, he added, "gives his political adversaries an advantage" in upcoming elections across six of the 13 regional states in Malaysia, daily Malay Mail reported.

Sanusi is facing two charges of sedition over his remarks on July 11 that were deemed insulting towards Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

He is set to appear in court on Oct. 4.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the Sedition Act was "typically not invoked against individuals," but in the case of Sanusi, "the circumstances were exceptional."

"This is a question of the position and sovereignty of the Malay Rulers which we must uphold and preserve," Anwar said, according to The Star, another local newspaper.