If Najib wants the people's respect, he must haul Mashitah, Zaidi & Ibrahim to court, NOT protect them - Gerakan

Urging the government to enforce the Sedition Act fairly, Gerakan's Baljit Singh said Umno delegates Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said and Mashitah Ibrahim as well as Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali, should be hauled to court.

The party's central law and human rights bureau chairperson pointed out that parity in enforcement of the much criticised legislation is crucial.

"I must say that the widely perceived selective enforcement and prosecution remains a pressing issue that authorities must address urgently. The fair application of the law is a prerequisite to the retainment of Sedition Act.

"Justice must prevail. It is now the opportunity for the Attorney-General’s Chambers and police to quell complaints of selective enforcement and prosecution by initiating charges against Ibrahim, Mohd Zaidi, Mashitah and a number of public figures who have made seditious remarks in the past but no action was taken against them," Baljit added.

"Selective enforcement of prosecution is a form of legal abuse that threatens the rule of law and must be discontinued," he said further.

'No witch hunt'

Meanwhile, MCA Publicity Bureau deputy chairperson Marco Yap in a separate statement, said that Mohd Zaidi's statement should not turn into a witch hunt.

Mohd Zaidi, who is Permatang Pauh Umno chief, had claimed during the Umno AGM last week that many Chinese profited from vice.

"We do not want his dare to turn into a form of vigilantism or witch hunt against the Chinese community with legitimate businesses being raided," he said.

He said that if Mohd Zaidi spotted any illegal acitivity regardless of race, he should lodge a complaint with relevant authorities first.

Mohd Zaidi’s claim, added with Mashitah's claims that some Chinese were burning the Quran in Kedah, has riled up the Chinese community as being targeted in the assembly.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had also reneged on his promise to repeal the Sedition Act and instead spoke of strengthening it further, during the assembly. -M'kini