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Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Lawyers group repeats call to abolish Sedition Act after court ruling

Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen says the rampant and indiscriminate use of the Sedition Act compounds the reasons why the act needs to be repealed. – The Malaysian Insider pic, October 6, 2015.Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen says the rampant and indiscriminate use of the Sedition Act compounds the reasons why the act needs to be repealed. – The Malaysian Insider pic, October 6, 2015.The Federal Court ruling today declaring the Sedition Act constitutional was immediately decried by legal rights advocacy group, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), which said the colonial era law was antiquated and undemocratic.
LFL executive director Eric Paulsen said that most modern states in the world would have either repealed or put the oppressive legislation into disuse.
The Federal Court's decision today means Universiti Malaya law professor Azmi Sharom will have to stand trial for sedition, after being charged in September last year. The apex court today dismissed his bid to challenge the constitutionality of the 1948 act.
"The rampant and indiscriminate use of the Sedition Act and its wide, arbitrary and ill-defined 'seditious tendency' offence functions as a catch-all provision to target all and sundry for anything that is remotely contentious, thus stifling democratic norms and creating a climate of fear.
"The situation is made worse by the blatant selective and double standards use of the Sedition Act – cracking down hard against dissidents and opposition politicians for anything remotely controversial. For example against N. Surendran, Teresa Kok, Adam Adli (Abd Halim), RSN Rayer and many others while Umno or pro-Umno personalities like Ibrahim Ali and ‘Ali Tinju’ are let off even though what they have said is far more inflammatory," Paulsen said.
Surendran and Kok are federal lawmakers while Rayer is a Penang state assemblyman.
Adam Adli is a youth activist while Ibrahim heads Malay rights group Perkasa.
Ali Tinju, who real name is Mohd Ali Baharom, is the president of the Malay Armed Forces Veterans Association and has been in the news lately for allegedly making inflammatory remarks outside Kuala Lumpur's Low Yat Plaza in July.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2012 had promised to repeal the Sedition Act but made an about-turn following pressure from conservatives who want the law retained to protect national harmony and Malay privileges.
Paulsen also said that investigations and prosecutions using the Sedition Act were a waste of the police and Attorney-General’s Chambers resources, adding that they should have been better used to address real crimes.
LFL repeated calls to abolish the law and wants a moratorium imposed on its further use, including a drop of all prosecutions pending a repeal of the act.
Today's ruling is expected to impact some 30 politicians, government critics and activists, all of whom have been charged under the act since last year.
- TMI

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