SUARAM condemns the Amendments to the Section 203A of Penal Code that are currently being debated in parliament. Amendments such as these are moves to further restrict the right to information and creating a climate of fear for whistleblowers.
The current amendments being debated in parliament are as follows:
Disclosure of information 203A :
(1) whoever discloses any information or matter which has been obtained by him in the performances of his duties or the exercises of his functions under any written law shall be punished with of not more than one million ringgit or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with both
(2) Whoever has any information on matter which to his knowledge has been disclosed in contravention of subsection (1) who discloses that information or matter to any other person shall be punished with fine of not more than one million ringgit or with imprisonment for a term which mat extend to one year or with both.
SUARAM asserts that the Malaysian Parliament should uphold Malaysians’ right to information. Even without these amendments, restrictive laws such as the Official Secrets Act (OSA) already exist and are used to restrict right to information.
Such amendments to the penal code are politically motivated and had not been consulted with the relevant stakeholders.
This speedy tabling of important provisions in the law without meaningful consultations only shows that the Government continues to move towards shrinking Malaysia’s democratic space.
We urge the government to withdraw the proposed new section immediately.
Nalini Elumalai
Executive Director
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