NGO Lawyers for Liberty has accused the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) of attempting to mislead the public by claiming that Putrajaya has no hand in the recent series of sedition charges against opposition politicians.
NGO Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen said the PMO's claim that the sedition cases were a court matter, thus independent of the government, was "untrue".
"It is elementary that all criminal charges are brought by the Attorney General’s (AG's) Chambers acting as public prosecutor, and the courts are only the adjudicator.
"It is trite and common knowledge that the AG's Chambers is an appendage of the government and far from being independent, it acts at the behest and interest of the government," he said in a statement today.
Therefore, Paulsen said the PMO was being "highly irresponsible" to lay blame on the courts for the slew of sedition charges.
"It is the AG's Chambers that is responsible for misusing its prosecutorial powers by selectively, and in bad faith, targetting opposition leaders and dissidents for what are clearly politically motivated charges," he said.
Paulsen said had the government been consistent, it would not be promising the repeal of the Sedition Act while going on the other extreme by increasing its usage.
"Sedition is an antiquated and undemocratic offence, a relic from a bygone era and most modern states have repealed or put it into disuse.
"It certainly has no place in a modern and democratic Malaysia that we aspire to be.
"We therefore call for all sedition charges to be withdrawn immediately, a moratorium to be imposed over its further use and for the Act to be repealed," he said.
The PMO today claimed that the Sedition Act would still be abolished and replaced with the new National Harmony Act despite several opposition politicians being charged under the British-era law in the past month.
"Any charges under the Sedition Act are a matter for the courts. Malaysia’s judiciary is independent, as the verdicts of many cases prove.
"Until new legislation is in place, existing cases must be tried under existing laws," it said in a statement this morning.
At least three opposition politicians were slapped with five sedition charges in the last week and several more have been hauled up by police for investigation.
While Prime Minister Najib Razak before the 13th general electionpromised to repeal the Act, it has been used increasingly in the year that followed BN retaining power.
NGO Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen said the PMO's claim that the sedition cases were a court matter, thus independent of the government, was "untrue".
"It is elementary that all criminal charges are brought by the Attorney General’s (AG's) Chambers acting as public prosecutor, and the courts are only the adjudicator.
"It is trite and common knowledge that the AG's Chambers is an appendage of the government and far from being independent, it acts at the behest and interest of the government," he said in a statement today.
Therefore, Paulsen said the PMO was being "highly irresponsible" to lay blame on the courts for the slew of sedition charges.
"It is the AG's Chambers that is responsible for misusing its prosecutorial powers by selectively, and in bad faith, targetting opposition leaders and dissidents for what are clearly politically motivated charges," he said.Paulsen said had the government been consistent, it would not be promising the repeal of the Sedition Act while going on the other extreme by increasing its usage.
"Sedition is an antiquated and undemocratic offence, a relic from a bygone era and most modern states have repealed or put it into disuse.
"It certainly has no place in a modern and democratic Malaysia that we aspire to be.
"We therefore call for all sedition charges to be withdrawn immediately, a moratorium to be imposed over its further use and for the Act to be repealed," he said.
The PMO today claimed that the Sedition Act would still be abolished and replaced with the new National Harmony Act despite several opposition politicians being charged under the British-era law in the past month.
"Any charges under the Sedition Act are a matter for the courts. Malaysia’s judiciary is independent, as the verdicts of many cases prove.
"Until new legislation is in place, existing cases must be tried under existing laws," it said in a statement this morning.
At least three opposition politicians were slapped with five sedition charges in the last week and several more have been hauled up by police for investigation.
While Prime Minister Najib Razak before the 13th general electionpromised to repeal the Act, it has been used increasingly in the year that followed BN retaining power.
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