Cleared of charges, activists want Sedition Act gone for good

After being cleared of their respective sedition charges, human rights lawyer Eric Paulsen and PSM's S Arutchelvan today urged the government to do more to deliver on this promise to abolish the Sedition Act 1948.

Paulsen (above, second from left) said Attorney-General Tommy Thomas had done well in withdrawing the case against him but there were other steps that should be taken as a matter of policy.

“The Sedition Act must be abolished. All pending sedition cases, appeals, and investigations must also be withdrawn as to proceed with them would be inconsistent with the Pakatan Harapan government’s manifesto,” he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

Meanwhile, when met in Petaling Jaya, Arutchelvan (above, in red) said it was a waste of resources for the police to pursue sedition cases when Harapan had given its commitment to abolish the law.

He also urged the government to abolish the law without further ado.

“This Sedition Act was created during the Emergency by the British. The current government should not pause to think about it. They should just abolish it which they have promised.

“Even (former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak) at one point wanted to abolish it, but he (backed down). I think Harapan should actually abolish it […]

“So we hope the government would not waste money, resources on these sort of cases. Because now the government said they have no money so if you want to cut down on cost, don’t let the police do this kind of stupid work,” he said.

Both Paulsen and Arutchelvan pointed to the new government’s continued use of the Sedition Act despite promising to repeal it in its election manifesto.

These are ongoing investigations against activists Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Asheeq Ali SethiAlivi, and Hishamuddin Rais.

In its manifesto, Harapan had promised to repeal repressive laws and listed the Sedition Act among them.

'Politically motivated'

Earlier today, Paulsen and Arutchelvan were freed of their sedition charges after the prosecution dropped its cases against them.

Paulsen had been charged on Jan 10, 2015, for allegedly accusing Jakim of promoting extremism.

Arutchelvan had been charged on Feb 10, 2015, for allegedly criticising the Federal Court’s decision on PKR president Anwar Ibrahim’s “Sodomy II” trial.

Also cleared of charges this morning was dance producer Bilqis Hijjas (above) who was charged on Sept 23, 2015, over an incident when she dropped three yellow balloons during an event that Najib was attending as prime minister.

The prosecution had been appealing against her acquittal of the charge under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 for insulting behaviour likely to cause a breach of peace but today informed the court that it was withdrawing its appeal.

Paulsen said the cases against himself, Arutchelvan, and Bilqis should have never been brought about in the first place.

“They are clearly politically motivated, a remnant from the old Umno/BN regime in misusing oppressive laws to stifle political dissent,” he said. - Mkini