Cartoonist Zunar filed an application at the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur today to challenge his nine charges under the Sedition Act 1948

The application was filed by lawyers Eric Paulsen and Latheefa Koya when the matter came up for mention today.

Latheefa told Malaysiakini the challenge poses constitutional questions regarding the Sedition Act, on whether the lack of intention to prove a charge under the Act is against Article 5 for a right to fair trial, Article 8 on equality before the law and Article 10 on freedom of expression.

She said the second issue is whether one can criminalise fundamental liberties, which include freedom of expression as shown in PKR leader Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad's case related to the Peaceful Assembly Act, while the third is whether the Federal Court had made the right decision in the Azmi Sharom case .

The lawyer said the Sessions Court will decide whether to hear the questions and if it does recognise that they are constitutional questions, then the matter would subsequently be referred to the High Court.

Zunar was charged for his nine allegedly seditious tweets last April following the conviction of Anwar Ibrahim for Sodomy II earlier this year.

Besides Zunar's sedition case, the same Sessions Court will also hear the sedition charge against lawyer Eric Paulsen and Padang Serai assemblyperson N Surendran.