KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — The Attorney-General (AG)’s decision to press sedition charges against opposition MP, N Surendran, who is the lawyer representing Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’ is an “abuse of process”, DAP’s Gobind Singh Deo said today.

Gobind criticised the AG for charging N. Surendran saying that the PKR MP was merely stating his opinions on a Court of Appeal ruling which reversed Anwar’s acquittal  in his  second sodomy trial.

As Anwar’s lawyer, Surendran’s opinion “may well form the basis” of the legal submissions by  defence team in their appeal at the Federal Court, Gobind said.

Since the AG will be a party to the Federal Court appeal, he should use that opportunity to answer the criticisms from Anwar’s lawyers of the appellate court’s ruling instead of pressuring them in this way, Gobind said.

“He cannot and must not be allowed to exert any form of pressure nor intimidate Surendran or Datuk Seri Anwar’s defence team in any way before the appeal especially by prosecuting them for expressing their views in the matter.

“That would be an utter abuse of process and could well amount to contempt of court,” the DAP legal bureau chairman and Puchong MP said.

The Federal Court, which will hear Anwar’s appeal against his sodomy conviction in two month. It has fixed October 28 and October 29 for the case’s hearing.

“It will also set a bad precedent” especially for criminal lawyers, where they “will be far less willing to speak their minds and defend their clients to the best of their ability for fear of being prosecuted”, Gobind added.

Yesterday, Surendran claimed trial when charged under Section 4 (1) (centre) of the Sedition Act for criticising the appellate court’s ruling and was released on a RM5,000 bail.

He was accused of committing the offence in a news release titled “Court of Appeal’s Fitnah 2 Written Judgement is Flawed, Defensive & Insupportable”, that was issued to news portal Malaysiakini on April 18 this year.

If found guilty, Surendran faces a fine of up to RM5,000, a maximum three-year jail term, or both.

On Monday, it was reported that police issued a warrant of arrest on Surendran ahead of the next day’s charge, over remarks he made allegedly accusing the prime minister of influencing the judiciary in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal against his second sodomy conviction.

The lawyer had allegedly said to reporters that Najib had a hand in determining the dates for Anwar’s appeal against his sodomy conviction. A video of the press conference was later uploaded on YouTube.

Berita Harian reported on Sunday that at least 15 police reports were lodged against Surendran over the accusations levelled against Najib.