REPEALING “oppressive laws” is the second most important priority for new Attorney-General Tommy Thomas after 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) investigations.  

Thomas said this and added he was acting on the directive of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

These laws include the Anti-Fake News Act, which Dr Mahathir today announced in a separate press conference would be abolished.

“The list of such laws is pretty long and chambers has to take steps to repeal them, either in whole or in part, on an urgent basis,” Thomas said at the A-G’s Chambers headquarters in Putrajaya today.  

Other priorities would be to study international obligations undertaken by the previous administration, such as contracts with other countries, to ascertain whether they were “lopsided” against the interests of Malaysia, said the 66-year-old Thomas, who was appointed to the post yesterday.

Meanwhile, Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said the Anti-Fake News Act 2018 could be abolished as early as the Dewan Rakyat session this month.

He said the proposal to table its repeal only needs a simple majority to pass and would not require a constitutional amendment.

Under the act, offenders can be fined up to RM500,000 or jailed up to six years. 

Critics said the law gave the government excessively broad powers, including extra-territorial jurisdiction that allows it to charge or detain any person who publishes what it perceives to be fake news, said law experts.

Financiers of blogs or news sites can also be indicted, while court applications to reverse a publication ban can be thrown out under the pretext of national security, they had said. – June 6, 2018.