July 11, 2012
KUALA
LUMPUR, July 11 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the repeal of the
Sedition Act 1948 tonight, in his latest move to regain the momentum for
reforms ahead of elections that must be held soon.
He said the 64-year-old law would be replaced with a National Harmony Act.
“With this new Act, we would be better equipped to manage our national fault lines.
“It will also help to strengthen national cohesion by protecting
national unity and nurturing religious harmony,” he was quoted as saying
by The Star during the Attorney-General Department’s dinner here.
Tonight’s announcement comes as part of the prime minister’s slew of
legislative reforms to increase civil liberties initiated during the eve
of Malaysia Day last year.
Among others, the Najib administration has repealed the Internal
Security Act 1960 (ISA), lifted three Emergency Declarations and enacted
the Peaceful Assembly Act to regulate public gatherings.
The government has also scrapped the need for annual printing
licences in the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and lifted
the ban on student participation in politics through amendments to the
University and University Colleges Act 1971.
Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief executive
Wan Saiful Wan Jan welcomed tonight’s announcement but said it would be
preferable that the Act be scrapped entirely and not replaced with
another piece of legislation.
“But since the government will proceed with the replacement law, we
congratulate the prime minister for staying true to his promise to put
people first through this consultation.
“We urge the public and members of civil society to engage in this consultation process,” he said in a statement here.
Opposition lawmakers and civil society groups have long accused the
government of using the British-enacted Sedition Act arbitrarily to
limit dissent.
Speaking to The Malaysian Insider recently, Bar Council
constitutional law committee chief lawyer Syahredzan Johan noted a trend
for the authorities to cite the Sedition Act as an early measure in
their investigations and prosecution because “it is the “easiest offence
to satisfy”.
“They don’t have to prove that there is sedition, only to show there
is a tendency,” Syahredzan said, pointing to Section 3(1) of the
Sedition Act, which lists six sub-clauses defining a seditious tendency.
It includes “to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against any Ruler or against any Government”.
Syahredzan said there was tendency for the government to go on the
offensive and use the laws as weapons when it was being hit by
criticism. He stressed that it occurs on both sides of the political
divide.
Recent cases include DAP chairman Karpal Singh, who was prosecuted on
a charge of “seditious tendency” for saying the Perak Sultan could be
questioned in a court of law.
Police are also investigating former Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri
Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin for his May 28 Twitter remarks on the Johor
Sultan’s RM520,000 purchase of the WWW1 car licence plate.
When announcing a raft of reforms last year, Najib admitted that the
government’s move to allow greater civil freedom was “risky, but we are
doing this for our survival.”
“No individual will ever be detained simply due to political ideology,” he had said in his Malaysia Day message.
The 52-year-old ISA was repealed in April this year and replaced with
the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act, which saw the
government’s right to detain a person without trial removed.
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