(Nov 11): The Johor Baru High Court today maintained the bail amount for activist Khalid Mohd Ismath at RM70,000 for the 14 charges he was slapped with, including for making inflammatory postings against the Johor royalty.

Judge Sofian Abdul Razak in making this decision, also ordered Khalid to report to the police once every two weeks until the conclusion of the trial at the Sessions court. The date for the trial, however, has yet to be set.

The other bail conditions, including surrendering his passport and other travel documents to the court, remains.

In an immediate response, lawyer Roger Chan Weng Keng, said the bail was high and tantamount to punishing the accused.

Khalid, however, remains free as he had posted bail.

On October 13, Khalid was charged in the Johor Baru Sessions Court with three counts of sedition against the Johor royals and another 11 counts under the Communications and Multimedia Act.

The 25-year-old Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) member claimed trial and was granted interim bail of RM5,000 for each charge.

It was reported that Khalid's bail money came from the “Freedom Fund” set up earlier this year to assist those penalised for exercising the freedom of speech and assembly.

PSM leaders S. Arutchelvan had said RM60,000 came from the fund while another RM10,000 was donated by party members. – The Malaysian Insider