Zulkifli Noordin: A special court to charge traitors must be set up

A special court and prosecution officers must be set up to charge traitors if the government is keen to legislate a special law on the offence of being disloyal to the king.

Lawyer and politician Datuk Zulkifli Noordin said the existence of the new post would be able to avoid conflict of interest because the Attorney-general's office represented the government while the new special prosecution officers could represent the Royal Institution.

"It is not suitable for the Attorney-general to carry out prosecutions on behalf of the king," he said when contacted by Bernama, today. He supported the proposal by a former judge of the court of appeal, Datuk Mohd Noor Abdullah who wanted the government to create a special law on the offence of being traitorous to the king.

He said, the Malaysian legal system needed to be amended to suit the law on disloyalty.

"The time is ripe for prosecution to be conducted by a legal officer who is skilled in law because, all these while, sometimes prosecution is performed by a police officer, and this has several weaknesses," he said.

He said, to date, there was no legal provision to specifically try the offence of being a traitor.

Currently, those who were said to be traitors would be charged under the Sedition Act 1948 or under the Penal Code, he said.

"The problem is, the existing law does not have a specific definition on the offence of being traitorous," he said.

Zulkifli also suggested that a special court be set up to try cases of disloyalty which were regarded as serious and the punishment must be severe so that the people would be aware of the importance of the authority of the king.

The proposal to formulate a special law was mooted following several cases of insulting the national monarchy following the failure of the public to understand the power and the functions of the king of Malaysia.