KOTA KINABALU – The lawyer who branded the Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan cultural pageant an “exotic cattle show” faces yet another suit, with Sabah indigenous groups potentially calling for the Sedition Act 1948 to be used.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan said the groups are offended by Marcel Jude Joseph’s court submission, and will file a case in the native and civil courts.
The Keningau MP said they may also call for the use of the Sedition Act, given the nature of the said submission.
“Although he has apologised, we see his apology as somewhat half-hearted and insincere.
We’ve also found that he refused to amend the court submission, saying he was not able to do so as the matter is now in the courts. But according to a lawyer here, any submission to the courts can still be amended and corrected.
“We also view the apology as admitting guilt over the remarks made, therefore, there is basis for us to act,” he said after a mediation meeting on the matter here today.
The groups involved are the Kadazandusun Cultural Association (KDCA), represented by Joanna Kitingan, Sabah Native Affairs Council president Benedict Topin, Persatuan Momogun Rungus Sabah president Datuk Jelani Hamdan, Sabah Murut Association’s Datuk Bobbey Suan and Sabah Cultural Board general manager Mackey Apisan.
A police report has been lodged by KDCA, after it demanded an apology from Jude.
Jeffrey said all 26 district coordinators for the Unduk Ngadau pageant will lodge police reports and file suits in their respective native courts.
The same action will be taken against former Sabah Star election candidate David Orok, who allegedly made a derogatory statement on Unduk Ngadau on Facebook.
Orok in 2014 was charged under the Sedition Act for insulting another religion.
Jude came under fire after his court submission, posted by a Facebook user, went viral.
Page 2 reads: “The (Unduk Ngadau) contest is not about women, it is just a contest, it doesn’t incorporate all women, whatever their talents and skills and education and abilities, it is nothing more than an exotic cattle show, and almost feels like an auction.”
Jeffrey expressed hope that the suits will serve as a lesson that no one should insult the cultures and customs of indigenous communities.
On Jude’s Sabah Star membership, he said the matter has been brought before the party’s disciplinary board.
Asked whether a non-native can be charged in the native courts, he said this is allowed so long as a native person or group is involved. – The Vibes, June 16, 2021
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