The use of the Sedition Act calls into question the government's sincerity in pursuing transformation
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Bar today denounced the continued use of the Sedition Act, saying it calls into question the government’s “sincerity in pursuing transformation and greater civil liberties through legislative reforms.”
In a press statement commenting on the prosecution of lawyer N.Surendran and the recent controversy over the investigation of a 17-year-old student who “liked” the “I Love Israel” Facebook page, Malaysian Bar President Christopher Leong said the use of the act undermined Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s “explicit pledge” to repeal it.
He said the authorities, in bringing a sedition charge against Surendran, had disowned the Prime Minister’s promise.
He urged the authorities to withdraw the charge against Surendran and to stop investigating the student.
“The Sedition Act, as with its predecessor the Sedition Ordinance, was conceived and designed by a colonial government to stifle fundamental rights and liberties, oppress the rakyat and deny them democratic space. Its sole purpose was to suppress and persecute the citizenry,” Leong said.
“The continued use of the Sedition Act … embarrasses the government in that it places the government in an invidious position of being seriously questioned as to its sincerity in pursuing transformation and greater civil liberties through legislative reforms.”
In a press statement commenting on the prosecution of lawyer N.Surendran and the recent controversy over the investigation of a 17-year-old student who “liked” the “I Love Israel” Facebook page, Malaysian Bar President Christopher Leong said the use of the act undermined Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s “explicit pledge” to repeal it.
He said the authorities, in bringing a sedition charge against Surendran, had disowned the Prime Minister’s promise.
He urged the authorities to withdraw the charge against Surendran and to stop investigating the student.
“The Sedition Act, as with its predecessor the Sedition Ordinance, was conceived and designed by a colonial government to stifle fundamental rights and liberties, oppress the rakyat and deny them democratic space. Its sole purpose was to suppress and persecute the citizenry,” Leong said.
“The continued use of the Sedition Act … embarrasses the government in that it places the government in an invidious position of being seriously questioned as to its sincerity in pursuing transformation and greater civil liberties through legislative reforms.”
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