The gag orders against him were issued on May 14 and 20, restraining him from making comments on his ongoing criminal defamation case.

Lawyer Rafique Rashid, who appeared for Badrul, said the appeals were filed on May 23 for both charges under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 for seditious publication, and Section 500 of the Penal Code for defamation.

He said no date had been set yet for discussion at the Court of Appeal.

“I want to ask the Court of Appeal for its direction as to whether the decisions of the Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru High Courts are right in terms of the law,” he said in a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur court complex here today.

He said Badrul should be afforded some space in terms of freedom of speech, even though it is not absolute.

On May 14, Justice K Muniandy made the decision after allowing the prosecution’s application to review a sessions court decision rejecting their request for a gag order.

Badrul was charged with criminal defamation at the sessions court on April 29, where he was accused of publishing a statement that he had reason to believe would damage the name of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim.

The sessions court granted Badrul bail of RM10,000 with one surety, but denied the prosecution’s application to impose a gag order on him, after which the prosecution filed for a revision in the High Court.

Badrul was also charged with one count of sedition.

On May 20, the Johor Bahru High Court issued a separate gag order restraining him from commenting on his ongoing sedition case involving a Bloomberg report about purported plans for a casino project in Forest City.

According to a Berita Harian report, Justice Abu Bakar Katar allowed the prosecution’s application to review the sessions court’s rejection of their application for a gag order, saying not issuing the gag order would risk Badrul repeating the same seditious statements, even against the king.