THE producer and director of the Malaysian movie Mentega Terbang, which has courted some controversy, pleaded not guilty in the Kuala Lumpur magistrates’ court today to one charge of hurting the religious feelings of others.
Mohd Khairianwar Jailani and Tan Meng Kheng made the plea after the charge was read to each of them before the magistrates, Noorelynna Hanim Abd Halim and Aina Azahra Arifin.
According to the charge, the two men, who acted as the film’s scriptwriter (Khairianwar) and producer (Tan) respectively, had allegedly intended to hurt the religious feelings of others.
The offence was allegedly committed at Jalan Semarak Api 2 in Kuala Lumpur at 12.34pm, on February 26, 2023.
The defendants appeared in court wearing black coats.
The charge was framed according to Section 298 of the Penal Code which provides for a prison sentence of one year, or a fine, or both, if convicted.
Deputy public prosecutors Abd Malik Ayob and Nor Azizah Aling asked for bail to be set at RM10,000 with one surety for each accused with an additional condition that they be bound by a gag order on the case until it is completed.
They also asked that the duo report to the nearest police station once a month and hand over their passports to the court.
Lawyer N Surendran, who represented the two accused, objected, describing the bail sought as too high.
He said that the amount was too high. He also objected to the imposition of a “gag order”, arguing that the application has no basis in the jurisdiction of the court.
After hearing the arguments of both parties, Khairianwar was granted bail of RM6,000 while Tan was granted bail of RM6,500 with one surety each.
They were additionally told to report to a nearby police station once every month.
At the same time, the two accused are also prohibited from giving any statements related to the case until it is disposed of.
Last month, Khairianwar and Tan had filed an application in the high court to challenge the government’s move to ban the film.
The 2021 film, first released at the Jogja-Netpac Film Festival in Indonesia, had several police reports lodged against it for containing scenes “disturbing to Muslims”.
It was originally streamed on the Viu platform, but has since been taken down.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said that Viu was contacted over the indie movie even though the agency does not have authority to censor movies and TV shows.
The movie became a focal point of controversy after some quarters lodged police reports against it for containing scenes allegedly disturbing to Muslims.
It also garnered brickbats from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Mohd Na’im Mokhtar, who said the movie goes against the theology and way of life of Muslims from the Syafie school of thought in Malaysia.
The Film Censorship Board (LPF) said seeing that the movie is only available for viewing online, it was outside its purview. – The Vibes, January 17, 2024
