A Malacca based blogger "Milosuam" was charged in the Kota Kinabalu Magistrates Court for posting statements intended to cause fear among the people in the midst of the Sulu intrusion.
Yusuf Al Siddique Suratman, 29, pleaded not guilty to a posting under the heading "Pendatang asing bakal cetus huru hara di Sabah?" (Confidential information: Foreigners to cause chaos in Sabah) in which he claimed that 1,500 foreigners would cause chaos in Sabah with posting of documents purportedly by police.
Yusuf, who was charged on Tuesday under Section 505 of the Penal Code for causing fear and faces a maximum of two-years imprisonment or fine or both if convicted.
Magistrate Edward Paul set trial for July 22-23 and released Yusuf on RM15,000 bail with one local surety.
He was also ordered to surrender his passport to the court.
Senior Federal Counsel Jamil Aripin had told the court that the accused was charged in Kota Kinabalu because the blogpsot was widely read in Sabah.
Yusuf's counsel Erveana Ansari said that they were applying to the Attorney- General's Chambers to transfer the case to Kuala Lumpur.
Earlier, Jamil had objected to bail for Yusof on grounds that Yusuf was from peninsular Malaysia but Erveana argued that there was no reason for the accuse to abscond with a minor offence.
She said that Yusuf was getting married on June 29 and as a non-Sabahan, he would have to spend more money to travel here.
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