PUTRAJAYA: The gag order placed on the controversial director of the banned indie movie Mentega Terbang, Mohd Khairianwar Jailani will continue to be enforced.

This was after a three-member bench Court of Appeal led by judge Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim dismissed Khairianwar's leave application to initiate a revision of the order imposed by the magistrate's court in January this year.

Other members of the bench were Datuk Azmi Ariffin and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin.

Khairianwar's lawyer Zaid Ibrahim confirmed this to the New Straits Times.

On Jan 19, two separate magistrates' courts imposed a gag order against Khairianwar alongside the movie's producer Tan Meng Kheng after they were charged under Section 298 of the Penal Code.

This was after deputy public prosecutor Nor Azizah Aling applied for a gag order against the duo from commenting until the disposal of the case.

She added that the gag order was necessary as the accused had made comments on the case when they were served with notices to appear in court and before the proceedings.

Both were charged with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of others last year through the movie.

They committed the offence at a unit at Diamond Regency, Jalan Semarak Api 2 at 12.34 pm on Feb 26 last year.

It carries a jail sentence of up to one year, a fine or both.

On March 4, 2023, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said it had contacted Viu, a Hong Kong-based video streaming platform, which confirmed that Mentega Terbang had been removed.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar had said the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) found that the contents of the film went against the creed and way of life of Muslims from the Syafie school of thought in Malaysia.

Police said they received eight reports on the film. The case was being investigated by Bukit Aman's Classified Crime Investigation Unit (USJT) D5 under Section 298A and Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2024/04/1040046/gag-order-against-director-mentega-terbang-remains-force