Passports temporarily returned to sex blogger couple

Controversial blogger couple, Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee, who face a charge under the Sedition Act for ridiculing Islam and the month of Ramadan, today got back their passports temporarily to enable them to take part in filming of a documentary in Singapore.

Sessions Court judge, Abdul Rashid Daud made the decision after allowing the application by counsel Chong Joo Tian, representing the two accused, for their passports be handed back to them temporarily from May 18 to June 3.

"Both my clients have been offered work in Singapore by Xtreme Media Pte Ltd and they will be involved in the filming of a documentary on their life earlier in Singapore," he told the court.

He added that the couple that never violated the conditions for their bail set by the court earlier.

Chong, in making the application when the case was mentioned in court today, also applied for an order for the two accused be exempted from having to report themselves to the nearest police station on June 1, one of the conditions that had been set by the court.

Deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin did not object to the defence's application for the passports to be handed back to the two accused temporarily, but he asked the court to set a condition for the couple not to make any comment on their ongoing case to the Singapore media.

To this, Chong said the filming would revolve around the couple's life in Singapore and not their life in Malaysia.

"The filming has nothing to do with the charges they are facing and if the court allows the condition applied for by the prosecution, it will prejudice my clients," he said.

The court then allowed the prosecution's application for the two accused not to make any comment on their case to the Singapore media.

Wan Shaharuddin also applied for another date for remention of the case as a notice of appeal had been filed with the Federal Court on the decision made by the Appeals Court on April 21, this year to drop one of the three charges against the couple under Section 298A (1)(a) of the Penal Code.

The court then fixed June 13 for re-mention of the case.

Alvin Tan or his full name, Tan Jye Yee, 26, and Vivian Lee or Lee May Ling, 25, were charged with making a seditious posting on "Alvin and Vivian - Alvivi" Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/alvivi.swingers) by uploading a photograph of themselves eating bak kut teh, a pork dish, with the greeting, "Selamat Berbuka

Puasa with bak kut teh...fragrant, delicious and appetising" together with the 'halal' logo.

The offence under the Sedition Act 1948, was allegedly committed between July 11 and 12, at Kompleks Mutiara, Jalan Ipoh, 3 1/2 Mile, here.

The two were also charged under the Film Censorship Act 2002 for displaying pornographic pictures on https://alviviswingers.tumblr.com/ at the same place between 9pm, July 6 and 2am, July 7, 2013.