Activists: Nazri wrong about Sedition Act

They say the law is often used to suppress dissent, not to fight extremism.

PETALING JAYA: Opponents of the Sedition Act have rejected Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz’s defence of it as a tool against extremism.

Lawyer Syahredzan Johan told FMT that the definition of “sedition” in the act was too broad and the authorities often took advantage of this to abuse it.

“The Sedition Act places the threshold for freedom of speech and expression too low,” he said.

“Anything and everything can be seditious. The definition is too wide and allows for arbitrary application by the authorities. We have seen how it can be abused to silence dissent instead of curbing hatred as claimed.”

Nazri had earlier said that the use of the Sedition Act could curb religious and racial extremism, especially as manifested on social media.

Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy said Nazri’s statement was not supported by fact. He alleged that most arrests under the act were aimed at suppressing political dissent.

“The minister should tell us how many cases under the Sedition Act had anything to do with incitement of racial or religious violence.”

Melissa Sasidaran of Lawyers for Liberty labelled the act as an outdated law, saying it served no purpose other than to be a “convenient tool” for the government to suppress dissent.

“As for freedom of speech, the threshold to make something an offence must be higher, such as at the point where it incites violence or harm against someone.”

She agreed that racially-charged comments should not be acceptable, but she said the offence did not deserve to be criminalised.

“It is for us as citizens and community leaders to call out such undesirable statements and condemn those who make these statements.”

Syahredzan gave a similar opinion, saying there already were other laws to deal with incitement of racial or religious hatred, such as the Penal Code.

“At the end of the day, we cannot legislate harmony,” he said. “We cannot force people to love each other by threatening punishment through the law.

“A mature democratic society must deal with the racists and extremists in our midst through dialogue and discourse.” -FMT