KUALA LUMPUR (May 15): Former Batu Berendam Member of Parliament (MP) Datuk Mohd Tamrin Tun Abdul Ghafar has applied with the Johor Baru Sessions Court to transfer his offensive Facebook comment case against the Johor crown prince to Kuala Lumpur.
The application was made via his solicitors Messrs Law Practice of Rafique and Partners on Tuesday. In the application, Tamrin said it would be more practical to have the case be tried in Kuala Lumpur, where he resides, and that there may be prejudice against him should the trial be held in Johor Baru. His lawyers also submitted a letter to the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC) in Putrajaya on Wednesday to inform them of his case transfer application.
On March 10, Tamrin claimed trial in the Johor Baru Sessions Court for making the offensive post against the crown prince, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, who is also known by the acronym of his title in Malay, TMJ, which stands for Tunku Mahkota Johor.
Tamrin, a son of the late former deputy prime minister Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba, was charged under Section 233(1) (a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which deals with improper use of network facilities to post any content that is considered obscene, indecent, menacing or offensive, with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person.
Tamrin posted an article on his blog tamrintunghafar.blogspot.com in February last year entitled "TMJ - Bodoh Sombong yang Tak Boleh di Ajar", criticising the Johor crown prince for taking a position against then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The article was also posted on his Facebook account.
In the blog post, he criticised the TMJ for allegedly getting involved in politics and issued a reminder that the royalty should not get involved in politics.
For the allegedly offensive post, Tamrin may face up to a year in prison or a maximum fine of up to RM50.000.
Tamrin, in his affidavit in support of the case transfer application sighted by theedgemarkets.com, said he will face logistics difficulty in handling the trial as he would have to incur additional costs and time to travel to and from his Kuala Lumpur home for the hearing. He also feared being prejudiced as an outsider in Johor as the issue involves a member of the Johor royal family.