The Home Ministry’s recent defence of the Sedition Act 1948 has reignited criticisms over the use of the law to investigate journalist Rex Tan over his question at a public forum on Palestine.
In a parliamentary written reply yesterday, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the law is only used for cases involving insults to the royal institution and instances that threaten national sovereignty.
He added that Putrajaya remains committed to reviewing the Sedition Act.
Today, Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh questioned why the legislation was used to probe Tan, who was arrested past midnight on Jan 17 under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act and Section 505(c) of the Penal Code on incendiary statements.
“What (Tan) allegedly said did not touch on any of the above categories, namely the royal institution or national sovereignty,” said Ramkarpal, who is chairperson of DAP’s national legal bureau.
“In March 2024, Saifuddin announced that the cabinet had agreed to begin the process of amending the said Act. If the Act is indeed under review or is on the brink of being amended as claimed by Saifuddin, why is it still being used by the authorities today?” he questioned.
Expressing similar sentiments, former MP Tian Chua told Malaysiakini that anyone with “common sense” should be able to tell that Tan’s question did not fall into the categories specified by Saifuddin.
“(If) there is a genuine threat, perhaps in the form of someone carrying arms or using outright inciteful language to make threats, then we can consider criminal action, but people who ask questions have a right to do so,” Chua said.
He also cautioned that the “unnecessary and heavy-handed” sedition probe against Tan might cause a negative impression that spaces for public discussions will be closed off due to oppressive laws.
Chua had his sedition conviction set aside in 2018 after the High Court judge found the lower court had erred in sentencing him to three months’ jail and a fine of RM1,800 in 2016.
Continued use casts doubt on reforms
Ramkarpal asserted that continuing to use a law which is under review undermines public confidence in the government’s commitment towards reform.
He further called on the government to disclose the status of the review process, when proposed amendments will be tabled, or if it will be replaced with legislation aimed specifically at protecting the royal institution.
“I have stated on various occasions in the past that the (Sedition Act), a relic of British colonial rule, is armchair, outdated, draconian, and ought to be repealed.
“It has been nearly three years since the government announced that the said Act will be reviewed. Malaysians have a right to know if this promise will be fulfilled instead of being further delayed,” the former deputy law minister added.
Police probes into Tan, a former Free Malaysia Today journalist, came after videos of his question, posed during a public forum in Kuala Lumpur featuring UK politician George Galloway, made the rounds on social media.
Tan’s question, which referenced a book in which parallels were drawn between the Palestinians and the Chinese community in Malaysia, was said to have carried racial overtones.
Internet regulator MCMC had also initiated an investigation under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 on the improper use of network facilities, a move critics condemned, as Tan did not upload content from his question online.
Allegations of double standards
Certain quarters, including former law minister Zaid Ibrahim, had also pointed out the authorities’ hypocrisy and “selective enforcement” of the Sedition Act, citing Pengkalan Chepa MP Ahmad Marzuk Shaary as an example.
In October, Marzuk, who is from PAS, published a Facebook entry also drawing parallels between Malaysia and Palestine, where he portrayed Malaysia’s non-Muslim and non-bumiputera citizens as threats to Malay-Muslim interests.
Marzuk claimed that the Palestinian people had accepted Jewish immigrants on humanitarian grounds, only to later become victims of oppression and be driven out of their homeland and cautioned the Malay community to “learn from these mistakes”.
DAP lawmaker RSN Rayer, who posed the initial parliamentary question that Saifuddin responded to yesterday, told Malaysiakini that to preserve national sovereignty, the law must be applied equally to everyone.
When contacted for comments following Saifuddin’s response, the Jelutong MP affirmed that if the authorities want to protect the peace over issues related to race, religion, and royalty, equal application of the law is a must.
On a similar note, DAP’s Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng echoed that the Sedition Act has repeatedly been condemned as unjust and unfit for democracy.
“The government pledged to repeal the Sedition Act, yet it continues to use it. Continuing to use it as an act of bad faith,” he said briefly. - Mkini
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