Why treat sedition offences like murder, asks Umno lawmaker

Pulai MP Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed questioned the Sedition Act amendments tabled in Parliament today. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, April 7, 2015.

Putrajaya's amendments to the Sedition Act 1948 has rendered offences under the draconian law similar to that of murder because of the provision that disallows bail for those charged under the Act, an Umno MP said today.

In a veiled criticism against Putrajaya, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said that the government should not have tabled such amendments by assuming that all those who are charged were potential flight risks.

"When you think about it, doing away with bail is like a murder case. If we are charged under the Sedition Act, it cannot be assumed that we would be a flight risk," the Pulai MP told The Malaysian Insider today.

"So implementing that amendment is like as if you are a murderer."

In a bid to "strengthen" the Sedition Act 1948, Putrajaya today tabled a bill to amend the colonial-era law to 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.

- TMI