In a bid to "strengthen" the Sedition Act 1948, Putrajaya today tabled a bill to amend the colonial-era law to include a provision where bail would be denied to those charged under the act.
The proposed Sedition (Amendment) Bill 2015 will include two new sections – 5A and 5B. Section 5A states that a person charged under Subsection 4(1)(a) and if there is a certificate in writing by the public prosecutor stating that it is not in the public interest to grant bail to the accused, no bail will be granted.
The other section states that the court will have the power to prevent those charged under Section 4 of the Sedition Act and released on bail, from leaving the country by ordering them to surrender their travel documents for a certain period.
The bill also seeks to introduce a clause that will "make clear" that any act of inciting any person or group to demand for the secession of any state from Malaysia is deemed seditious. Such a demand is already considered seditious under the current act.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.