A Malaysian court has issued a gag order against a Malaysian politician and activist over his comments regarding a Bloomberg report about possible plans for a casino in Johor Bahru’s Forest City.
According to reports, the gag order means that Badrul Hisham Shaharin is restrained from commenting on the sedition case that was brought about by his comments on the Forest City piece.
This comes after a previous gag order was rejected, a move now overruled by the Johor Bahru High Court.
Badrul had been charged in April over comments on the Bloomberg report published via his Facebook account. The judge ruled that the gag order was necessary to avoid a repetition of other statements that could be deemed seditious, including statements against the country’s king.
Badrul, also known as Chugubard, appeared in court for two charges of criminal defamation and sedition on April 29th, pleading not guilty. He had been arrested the previous day. He appeared again in court on April 30th.
The charges stem from comments on plans to build a casino in Forest City and revive the $100 billion project in the region.
The Malaysian Prime Minister and executives with the Berjaya and Genting Group (both named in the article) have all denied that there was a meeting to discuss the possibility of issuing a casino license for Forest City.
Genting Berhad holds the monopoly on casino gaming in the country, with the nation’s Prime Minister indicating there were no plans that monopoly is under threat.
