Raja Azlan Shah J:

Dr Ooi Kee Saik (accusedNo. 1) is charged before this Court with an offence under s. 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act, 1948, in that on 22 November 1970, at Sun Hoe Peng Restaurant, 25 Light Street, Penang, he uttered seditious words, namely -

ALLIANCE POLICY OF SEGREGATION: 'EVIDENCE GALORE' - Tonight's dinner is in celebration of Sdr Lim Kit Siang's release from detention by the Alliance Government. While it is a matter for celebration, it is also an occasion to highlight the grave Alliance error in putting away a man whose speeches during the last election campaign, especially his warnings, have been more than borne out by the events since then. To say that Sdr. Lim Kit Siang's arrest was a mindless over-reaction on the part of the Alliance Government is to be kind to the Alliance Government. The fact that a true Malaysian like Sdr. Lim Kit Siang can be summarily put away without trial, is indeed a very sad testimony to the way democracy is being practised in this country.

The question I keep asking myself, and I am sure there must be thousands of other thinking people in this country who feel the same way that I do, in this: 'Is the Alliance Government