LAWYERS for Liberty has savaged the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led unity government over its plan to amend and retain the Sedition Act 1948, saying it is “simply appalling, unacceptable betrayal of the promise of reform”.

The human rights and law reform civil society organisation reminded Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim when he and PH were in the opposition, they had consistently promised Malaysians they would repeal the law if they took federal power, and subsequently incorporated this promise in successive election manifestos.

“Now that it is in power, it is brazenly singing a different tune,” campaign coordinator Nabila Khairuddin said in a statement.

“It is a betrayal of the promise of reform for this government to now back-pedal on their promise to repeal the Act by purportedly qualifying its use to only matters involving royalty,” Nabila said as the group urged the government to repeal the law in its entirety.

The group is up in arms over the July 25 statement made by Law and Institutional Reform Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said said the cabinet has agreed to review the Sedition Act 1948 and that amendments will be made to limit its use to only matters involving the royal institution.

Nabila said the law, which was enacted during in colonial times, is an “antiquated and draconian piece of legislation that poses a devastating threat to freedom of expression enshrined under article 10(1)(a) of our (Federal) Constitution”.

“The Act is so vaguely and widely couched that it is near impossible for a member of the public to know which type of comment will be deemed seditious.

“Hence it will strike fear into the public and retard constructive discourse,” she said.

Nabila also said many Commonwealth countries have repealed the “backward colonial-era legislation” or put it into disuse due to its history of being an instrument of oppression and its broad and vague provisions, used over the years as a tool to curtail legitimate expressions of dissent and suppresses freedom of speech.

“In short, the Sedition Act is a diabolical and cruel British colonial law once used to oppress national freedom fighters, which must be consigned to the trash heap of history.”

She said for the PH-led government to now plot to give the law a new lease of life is simply unacceptable.

She added a law such as the Sedition Act, an anathema to fundamental rights, cannot be amended, but extinguished.

She said it is therefore “necessary and timely for this government to shed the remnants of a colonial-era legislation and embrace a progressive legal framework that values public discourse and critical discussions, irrespective of the subject matter, to ensure that people can express their opinions freely and responsibly without the fear of persecution or reprisals”.

By doing so, the government will show its commitment and sincerity in upholding freedom of speech in accordance with the Federal Constitution and international human rights standards, she said. – July 27, 2023.