(Oct 29): Activist Khalid Mohd Ismath, who is charged with making inflammatory postings against the Johor royalty, has been given an interim bail by the High Court.

Lawyer Roger Chan Weng Keng said the bail, however, came with several conditions.

He said Khalid has to post RM5,000 for each of the 14 charges he faced, surrender his travel documents and report to the police as instructed by the court.

“The court will convene again on November 11 whether to revoke or vary the bail,” he said.

Chan said friends and family members were in the midst of raising the money so that he could be freed today.

Chan said deputy public prosecutor Rahimah Abdul Majib applied for postponement on the grounds that her superior, Saiful Edris Zainuddin, who previously handled the matter was in Putrajaya today.

He said he objected to the application as the liberty of his client was at stake.

“The freedom of a person is fundamental and all other factors were secondary,” he submitted before judge Datuk Mohd Sofian Abdul Razak.

Chan said Khalid would continue to languish in jail as it would be unsure when this court would reconvene.

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 to the charges.

However, Saiful applied to the court that Khalid be denied bail as he could abscond. Edris cited the case of blogger Ali Abd Jalil who escaped from the country last year.

Ali had been charged with three counts of sedition for criticising the monarchy on Facebook.

He was released on bail but eventually fled to Sweden to seek asylum after claiming he had received death threats.

Judge Mohamad Hadlar Abdul Aziz agreed with Edris’s submission and fixed case management on November 11. – The Malaysian Insider