Lawyer P Uthayakumar was arrested this morning and immediately charged with sedition at the Jalan Duta Sessions Court.

He is accused of publishing seditious material in a letter written between Nov 15 and Dec 8 and posted in the Police Watch website.

The website is used by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), of which Uthayakumar is a legal adviser, to update its activities.

The letter, dated Nov 15, 2007, was from Hindraf and addressed to Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom at No. 10, Downing Street, London.

Uthayakumar was charged under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 which carries a maximum fine not exceeding RM5,000 or an imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.

The jail term will increase to a maximum period of five years for a subsequent offence.

Uthayakumar has claimed trial and Sessions Judge Sabariah Othman set bail at RM50,000 with one surety, which was immediately posted by a relative of Uthayakumar.

He has also been asked to surrender his passport to the court until the case is disposed. Hearing has been fixed from Jan 7 to 11 next year.

Bail objection

Earlier, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, who led the prosecution, had objected to the grant of bail stating that Uthayakumar has a tendency to repeat acts of incitement that threaten national security and public security.

“Of whether or not to grant bail, the judge should view seriously that there is no guarantee if he is released on bail that he will not continue to cause disharmony among the people,” said Abdul Gani.

He also said Uthayakumar will be soon be charged under another offence of sedition because of the threat he poses to national security.

“We will be charging this man again... He is repeating all these (acts), and the Sedition Act is meant to stop this,” he said.

Abdul Gani also said this case should regarded as a “subsequent offence” under the Sedition Act due to another charge of incitement - for which he is currently out on bail - that Uthayakumar faces at the Klang Sessions Court.

As this is Uthayakumar’s second offence under the same act, “it becomes not bailable,” Abdul Gani said further.

Uthayakumar’s counsel M Manoharan argued that there was no danger of his client absconding if allowed bail.

“There is nothing to show that he will abscond. He has been charged, he has been harassed but he is still in the country,” said Manoharan, adding that denying his client bail would amount to punishing him while his alleged crime has yet to be established.

He also argued that as Uthayakumar’s signature was not placed on the letter that the public prosecutor alleged contained seditious material, it is doubtful whether he can charged for an offense.

“The signature is not there. How can they use this material as (evidence of) sedition? If they are serious about charging him, where is the original letter? Where is the signature of the accused?” asked Manoharan.

Due to the technology available nowadays, the possibility of tampering with evidence is always present, he said.

Arrested this morning

Uthayakumar was arrested this morning in Bangsar near his house while he was on his way to his office.

His fiancee S Indradevi who was with him during the arrest told Malaysiakini that Uthayakumar was not informed of the reason of his arrest.

She said two police cars stopped Uthayakumar’s car at about 9.20am opposite the Bangsar Shopping Complex and about four plainclothes policemen rushed at him before grabbing him.

“They just told us that he was being taken to Jalan Duta. I was really scared. I am still trembling in fear from what happened this morning,” she said by telephone.

It was earlier believed that Uthayakumar was arrested over his role in the Hindraf rally on Nov 25. The rally - to highlight the marginalisation of the Indian Malaysian community - attracted about 30,000 people.

Last week, 31 of the protesters were charged with the attempted murder of a policeman. They were also charged with causing mischief. Sixteen of them were charged with illegal gathering as well.

Another round of arrests has been threatened by the police.

In addition to Uthayakumar, two other Hindraf leaders - P Waythamoorthy and V Ganabatirau - are currently out on bail on another sedition charge. Yesterday, the Shah Alam High Court ruled that the discharge order for the trio made two weeks ago was made in error.

The earlier sedition charge is over a speech allegedly made by the trio during a Hindraf function.

Why high bail?

In pronouncing her decision to grant Uthayakumar bail, Sabariah said the “general situation” in the country, among other factors, warranted the high bail set on Uthayakumar.

However, the court will not take into consideration the previous charge Uthayakumar faces at the Klang Sessions Court, she said.

Sabariah added, however, that the absence of Uthayakumar’s signature on the allegedly seditious material did not adversely impact on the charge itself.