KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has maintained a gag order against the director of the controversial film Mentega Terbang, Mohd Khairianwar Jailani, that bars him from speaking about his charge until the disposal of the case.

       Justice K. Muniandy made the ruling after dismissing a review application by the director to set aside a gag order by the Magistrate's Court on Jan 17.

       The judge said he had considered the nature of the charge against Mohd Khairianwar as well as the interest of the trial which will begin soon.

       The High Court also maintained Mohd Khairianwar's RM6,000 bail but set aside an additional condition issued by the magistrate whereby the accused was initially required to report his attendance to a nearby police station monthly.

       Mohd Khairianwar filed the review application on Jan 18 to set aside the gag order and the additional bail condition.

       Earlier, the court heard from his lawyer Zaid Malek, who argued that the gag order imposed by the magistrate was without justification nor evidence that the accused had issued statements on the case.

       Deputy Public Prosecutors Mohamad Mustaffa P. Kunyalam and Nadia Muhd Izhar appeared for the prosecution.

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       On Jan 17, Mohd Khairianwar and film producer Tan Meng Kheng, 37, were charged with deliberately hurting the religious sentiments of others through words and visuals.

       The offence was allegedly committed at a premises in Jalan Semarak Api 2 at 12.34pm on Feb 26.