PETALING JAYA, July 13 — Alexander Navin Vijayachandran the boyfriend of Crackhouse Comedy Club open mic participant Siti Nuramira Abdullah pleaded not guilty to two charges of using social media to promote and upload content meant to insult the public at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court today.
Earlier, Siti Nuramira pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing disharmony and hatred at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.
Alexander was charged under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998 at the PJ Sessions Court for uploading videos on YouTube and Twitter on June 5 and 16.
Section 233 is for "improper use of network facilities or network service".
Alexander was represented by Lawyer Sivaraj Retinasekharan and Ramesh MP Chandran, who are also representing Siti Nuramira. Alexander was supposed to have his charges read at 10am but Sivaraj was not in court.
An intern working for Sivaraj told the court that Sivaraj was at the High Court and would arrive shortly.
Judge Azrul Darus then adjourned till 11am to allow Sivaraj time to arrive.
Upon resumption at 11.47am, Alexander, dressed in a black hoodie and short jeans pleaded not guilty to the charges read to him.
Sivaraj apologised to the Court for not being there earlier but notified the Court that they had arrived at 9am but the deputy public prosecutor only arrived at 10am so they left to defend Siti.
In this case, if found guilty, Alexander may be fined up to RM50,000 or jailed for no more than a year.
Both offences were said to be committed at a condominium in Damansara Perdana.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamed Firdaous Mohd Idris initially asked for bail to be set at RM40,000.
"We ask the Court to please consider his background that he is only a freelance writer earning less than RM1,500 a month.
"He does not have a fixed job and the pandemic devastated his earning capability. I ask the Court that no bail be necessary as he is not a flight risk," Sivaraj pleaded with the Judge.
Judge Azrul Darus later set bail at RM10,000 per offense and fixed September 1 for the next trial date.
