The Sedition Act 1948 is a restraining law; it explains what not to do to ensure peace, unity and stability in the country.
The enforcement of the Act requires sufficient evidence to prove that a wrongful act was committed.
In the case of Armed Forces Veterans Association president Mohd Ali Baharom better known as Ali Tinju, Attorney-General (AG) Mohamed Apandi Ali said the sedition charge against him was dropped because the police could not produce the audio recording of the alleged inflammatory remarks he made outside Low Yat Plaza in July.
The AG told The Malaysian Insider that without the evidence, he was unable to pursue the case.
MCA School of Political Studies principal and vice president Chew Mei Fun said: “If the AG didn’t drop sedition charges on Ali Tinju, he may have thought twice about organising public protests”.
MCA urged the police to take cautionary and even preventive measures against Ali Tinju, who now has vowed another ‘Gerakan Merah’ (Red-Shirt Rally) which would be “panas” (heated) like the protest which took place in September.
He threatened a series of street melees to begin outside the Kota Raya shopping complex in the heart of Kuala Lumpur in retaliation to a mobile phone shop allegedly ‘locking up’ one of its customers.
On Dec 18, Ali Tinju called on Malaysians to boycott the Kota Raya shopping complex to teach traders there a lesson before a protest outside the mall failed to materialise.
Ali said the customer was a Malay and that the trader had tried to cheat the person.
Ali Tinju said he hoped to teach traders a lesson to respect consumers and the demonstration was not meant to be racial but to show that no trader had the right to lock up a customer.
Media reports cited that a customer was locked up in a room at the shopping complex for four hours after declining to buy four mobile phones at a store on Wednesday.
The customer claimed that he refused to make the purchase because the retailer raised the price for all four phones compared to what was initially agreed.
Ali Tinju said: “I urge the government to help ensure that all traders respect consumers. I give this warning, the Malays will rise and oppose Chinese traders in Malaysia but only those who like to cheat and twist facts.”
Chew who is also Women, Family and Community Development deputy minister said the police and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) must ensure that the Peaceful Assembly Act which requires a 10-day notice to the police is applied to Ali Tinju, lest the authorities be accused of practising double standards.
“We can safely say that Ali Tinju’s bravado to organise another incite-filled demonstration is due to the AG dropping all seditious charges against him,” she said.
The authorities appear to approve or condone his racially-charged language thereby making him braver, as there was no case against Ali Tinju.
Chew said unlawful confinement against a person’s will was never an option to retailers.
“The victim could have lodged a police report on his ‘unwarranted detention.’
“If a trader is unhappy that the customer did not make a purchase, he should not forcefully impose a sale. If there was suspected shoplifting, the trader should likewise lodge a police report”, she said
Malaysians, especially traders and customers in the vicinities of Bukit Bintang, Petaling Street and Kota Raya are tired of such provocations which would lead to business losses, and buildings being attacked by protesters, Chew cautioned.
Such ugly incidents are happening because the lack of enforcement is quite apparent. Surely, we do not have the right to take the law into our own hands. - http://www.theantdaily.com/
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