The High Court has postponed the start of former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s sedition trial after his lawyer revealed a “positive development” following his audience with the Sultan of Pahang last month.
Muhyiddin’s counsel, Amer Hamzah Arshad, told Justice Aslam Zainuddin that Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah had granted the Bersatu president an audience on Oct 26, which subsequently led to the development.
Amer said the defence received a letter from the palace on Nov 2 and intended to submit fresh representations to the Attorney-General.
“On Nov 2, we were handed a letter from the palace. I will not go into details but based on that, we would like to submit fresh representations to the attorney-general,” he said.
He asked the court to vacate the proceedings scheduled for today, which had been set for the commencement of the trial, to give the prosecution time to consider the new representations.
“We do not wish to jeopardise whatever goodwill has been established by starting the trial, My Lord. Allow us this latitude, give us a bit of time,” Amer said.
Muhyiddin is facing a sedition charge over remarks he made at a Perikatan Nasional campaign event in Gua Musang, Kelantan, on Aug 14.
During the event, he questioned why Al-Sultan Abdullah, who was the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the time, had not invited him to be sworn in as prime minister following the 15th General Election, despite his claim of having the support of 115 MPs.
The remarks sparked 50 police reports against Muhyiddin and also drew a rebuke from the Pahang palace.
