Unity govt no different from the past in Chegubard case, says Suaram

 

On at least seven occasions, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has reneged on his promise to limit the use of the Sedition Act, says Sevan Doraisamy.

PETALING JAYA: The human rights group Suaram has accused the unity government of being no different from its predecessors with the arrest of Bersatu activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin on sedition charges.

It said Badrul’s arrest and subsequent two-day remand were “acts of repressive intimidation”. It accused the government of weaponising the Sedition Act against its critics, particularly those in the opposition.

Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had, on at least seven occasions, reneged on his commitment to limit the use of the controversial law only against criticism of the Rulers.

Instead, there had been investigations and charges laid against those making statements concerning the Pardons Board, Malaysia-Israel relations, the judiciary, the unity government’s establishment and Anwar himself.

“Let us not forget that repealing the Sedition Act was a promise made by the Pakatan Harapan coalition in their election manifesto – which was then broken,” he said in a statement.

Sevan said the continued enforcement of the Sedition Act would hinder Malaysia’s progress towards becoming a true democracy as the public will not be allowed to fully enjoy meaningful and diverse discourse on public interest issues.

The government should always be open to public scrutiny and criticism, and this was especially crucial for unelected figures, including the monarchs, he said, urging the government to repeal the Sedition Act.

Badrul, also known as Chegubard, was detained at the Dang Wangi police headquarters yesterday over a posting on a Bloomberg report of purported talks between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Berjaya founder Vincent Tan and Genting Group’s Lim Kok Thay on opening a casino at Forest City in Johor.

He will face two charges at the Kuala Lumpur cybercrime sessions court today, one of which involves a post he made about a meeting last month between the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, and KK Mart founder Chai Kee Kan. - FMT