Woman Charged With Causing Ill Will Over Stand Up Performance

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 A woman claimed trial for causing enmity and ill-will with a controversial stand-up routine at a comedy club in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) last week.
Clad in a black jacket and an orange shirt, Siti Nuramira Abdullah (above) was composed when she was charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court this morning.
The charge is framed under Section 298A of the Penal Code for the offence of causing disharmony, disunity, enmity hatred, ill-will, or prejudicing maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of religion, between persons or groups of persons professing the same or different religions.
Siti Nuramira can be jailed for a minimum of two years and not more than five years if found guilty.
Previously, a video of a woman who took off her headscarf and baju kurung on stage at a comedy club had gone viral on social media.
According to the charge framed under Section 298A(1)(a), Siti Nuramira was accused of causing disharmony involving religion among people who are followers of that religion.
She was alleged to have committed the offence by claiming she memorised 15 juzuk of the Al-Quran then disrobing from her baju kurung and taking off her tudung during the performance at the Crackhouse Comedy Club in TTDI, around 6pm on June 4.
During open-court proceedings before judge Siti Aminah Ghazali, deputy public prosecutor Najihah Farhana Che Awang applied for the court not to grant bail to the 26-year-old accused.
The accused’s defence counsel R Selvaraj then countered that she ought to be granted bail as she has cooperated with the police during the investigation. He proposed a bail of RM4,000.
The lawyer pointed out that upon being contacted by the police over the viral video, she had stayed at home and waited for the authorities to come and detain her on Saturday last week.
“Her cooperation with the police during the probe must be taken into account as there is no risk of her not attending court or absconding.
“When the police contacted her regarding the viral video incident, six hours before the police arrived at her house, she did not run away and waited for the police to come.
“Despite being arrested, she gave cooperation while under remand,” Selvaraj said.
Najihah then told the court that if it is inclined to grant bail to the accused, then they seek for bail to be set at RM50,000 with one local surety.
RM20,000 bail
Najihah also sought for the court to impose additional bail conditions of impounding the accused’s passport and requiring her to report to the nearest police station once a month.
Siti Nuramira Abdullah (left) arrives at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court“Today’s case has gotten the attention of the public. A low bail would jeopardise the public’s perception of the judiciary and the legal system,” the DPP submitted.
The accused’s other defence counsel, Shaharudin Ali, then expressed shock at the proposed RM50,000 bail, contending that the amount is “preposterous”.
“The issue on public perception on the court being purportedly being jeopardised is not a relevant factor mentioned by our superior courts. The court will have a neutral sentiment,” the lawyer said.
Siti Aminah then allowed bail at RM20,000 bail with one Malaysian surety, ordering Siti Nuramira to report to the Brickfields police station once a month.
The judge also ordered Siti Nuramira to surrender her passport to the court and not to make online comments on the case. - Mkini

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