KUALA LUMPUR — Controversial blogger Alvin Tan’s lawyer is unable to “confirm or deny” if his client, who is facing criminal charges, is seeking political asylum in the United States after the 26-year old was reported to have claimed so on a personal Facebook account two days ago.

But, it appears that Tan is keeping up to date with media reports about his asylum-seeking claims on his regular Facebook page and even appeared to have posted a paragraph on a media report quoting Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

The posting uploaded earlier today quoted Mr Wan Junaidi as saying: “To get him back to Malaysia must be through the legal process. What is considered an offence in Malaysia must also be an offence in the United States; otherwise the request for his extradition will fail.

“The US courts will not allow it. Furthermore, US is an immigrants’ country and always sympathetic to the plight of refugees. The bottom line is there is very little we can do.”

At the end of the post, it was written in Chinese characters: “Good that you know that”.

The post drew comments from his Facebook “friends”, where one of them going by the username James Sim saying: “Lol, Scott free, Bro...”

Another social media user, known as Hari Haran, wrote : “Alvin! Malaysia does not need a self-centred, attention-craving, egoistical fool like you... yours is not a case of political persecution. You are just an immoral attention seeker. “

Tan’s lawyer, Mr Chong Joo Tian, said that he could not confirm the matter and added that attempts have also been made by the media to reach Tan’s mother on whereabouts, and to confirm if his claims of seeking asylum were true.

“I just spoke to her and she told me that she has been receiving messages from the media. But, she does not want to speak about this case,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Tan and his partner, Vivian Lee, 25, are facing criminal charges under the Sedition Act and the Film Censorship Act for their online uploads, including a photo deemed insulting to Islam on Facebook.

The couple, who came to be known as “Alvivi”, were jointly charged over their controversial “Ramadan greeting” posting last year, which contained the words “Selamat Berbuka Puasa (dengan bak kut teh... wangi, enak, menyelerakan)”, as well as pornographic images uploaded onto their blog.

Tan spoke to a Channel News Asia correspondent yesterday (Sept 24) through a private Facebook account, which the broadcaster had verified as belonging to the blogger.

Tan said: “I’m busy starting a new life here (in the US), apart from awaiting my final asylum hearing. I’m here to seek political refuge from the tyranny of Umno. Simple as that.”

Mr Chong said today that the trial at the Sessions Court was expected to go on, but added that the prosecution must decide if they wanted to suspend the charge against Tan temporarily, or try him in absence.

Hearing dates have not been fixed pending the prosecution’s appeal at the Federal Court against the decision of the Court of Appeal to allow the duo’s application to strike out a third charge against them under Section 298A of the Penal Code.

The Federal Court is expected to hear the appeal next month. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER