Putrajaya's abuse of Sedition Act OBVIOUS to everyone - Bar Council

KUALA LUMPUR - Putrajaya must cease the ongoing sedition blitz as its targeted use of the colonial era law to suppress dissent can no longer be masked, the Malaysian Bar said today.

Its president, Christopher Leong, further said it was questionable if such a punitive law would help achieve the country’s aspirations of “genuine peace, harmony and unity”, stressing that it subjugates the people’s right to freedom of speech and expression.

“In addressing the substantive issues, the people of Malaysia should honestly ask themselves these questions: Who is it that is behaving in a menacing manner and threatening public disorder? Who is it that is causing disharmony and disunity? Is the Sedition Act 1948 being evenly used?” he said in a statement.

“The answers are plain for all to see, if only one bothers to look... the authorities must not use an abhorrent piece of colonial-era legislation to protect themselves from fair comment and criticism,” Leong added.

Putrajaya has come under heavy public scrutiny for its ongoing sedition crackdown, which has seen at least 20 people including anti-government dissidents, opposition politicians and a journalist investigated or charged in the space of one month.

Leong today described the blitz as “alarming”, especially after police launched a probe on lawyer Edmund Bon for expressing his legal opinions on issues that have already been made public.

The Malaysian Bar was also appalled at the decision to charge University of Malaya (UM) law lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Azmi Sharom for his views on the law and the Federal Constitution, Leong said, describing both cases as “unjustifiable and unacceptable”.

“These actions by the authorities have given rise to grave concerns that a culture of intimidation, fear and subjugation is being perpetrated and perpetuated by the misuse of the Sedition Act 1948 and other laws such as section 499 and section 504 of the Penal Code.

“These recent events or actions are alarming. The Malaysian Bar is deeply concerned that as we celebrate the 51st anniversary of the formation of Malaysia we are lurching steadily towards an intolerant authoritarian State,” Leong said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has pledged to do away with the controversial Sedition Act 1948 three times in the span of two years, and replace it with a National Harmony Act, with the most recent occasion on September 5.

But with growing pressure from conservatives within his own party, Umno, Najib said recently that the government may not repeal the Sedition Act after all, if replacement laws were inferior.

Defenders of the Sedition Act, primarily pro-establishment conservatives including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, contend that its removal will open the floodgates of attacks against the Bumiputera, Islam, and the Malay rulers in the absence of another pre-independence law that has since been repealed ― the Internal Security Act. -Malay Mail