Prosecutors in Malaysia have charged opposition leader and former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin with sedition for allegedly insulting the country’s former king. Muhyiddin has pled not guilty.
Muhyiddin’s lawyer says he was charged on Tuesday over remarks made in a speech earlier this month, in which he was discussing political moves made following Malaysia’s general election in 2022.
Muhyiddin said he had secured sufficient backing from lawmakers to form a government after the election. But he questioned why the then-King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah had not invited him to be sworn in as the country’s prime minister. The former king appointed Anwar Ibrahim as the premier.
Muhyiddin says his speech did not intend to insult the king. If he is found guilty, he will receive a maximum three years in prison, a fine, or both.