Suhakam today condemned the arrest of Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar and the use of the Sedition Act against parliamentarians. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, March 19, 2015.
Malaysia's Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) took the police to task for using the Sedition Act against Nurul Izzah Anwar over her parliamentary debate, saying that the action breached the principle of parliamentary privilege.
Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Hasmy Agam said parliamentary immunity was a democratic right and expressed the commission's repeated concern over the use of Sedition Act against elected representatives during debates in Parliament and state assemblies.
He said this included the arrest of Seri Delima assemblyman R.S.N. Rayer for sedition over a remark he made at the Penang state assembly in May last year.
Nurul Izzah, who is Lembah Pantai MP, was detained overnight earlier this week for allegedly making a seditious statement while debating the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's speech, where she criticised the judiciary over the Federal Court verdict that upheld her father, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's conviction for sodomy.
Her arrest made international headlines and drew condemnation from abroad.
Anwar, the opposition leader and Permatang Pauh MP, is now serving a five-year jail sentence.
Police later said that Nurul Izzah was being investigated under the Sedition Act not for her speech in Parliament but for remarks made during the #KitaLawan rally in Kuala Lumpur on March 7 to free Anwar from jail.
Hasmy said today that the freedom of speech and expression in Parliament should not be impeached or become the basis of criminal proceedings.
He added that it was essential that MPs were guaranteed freedom from criminal prosecution, civil suits or superfluous disciplinary action.
He said that while the commission recognised that there were exceptions to privileges and immunities for MPs as stated in the Federal Constitution, the authorities must ensure proportionality of punishment against elected representatives, with due regard to provisions in the Standing Orders of Parliament and Assembly.
"Nonetheless the fundamental right of freedom of speech shall be upheld in Parliament at all times.
"Crucial to parliamentary democracy is the assurance that MPs are privileged with the authority to express their views and opinions in Parliament without fear or favour as representatives of the people."
Hasmy also reminded the authorities that parliamentary immunity was not a privilege to MPs for personal advantage, but a privilege for the benefit and interests the citizens they represent.
- TMI
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