POLICE may still use the Sedition Act to make arrests and conduct investigations but must do so with discretion, Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said today.

“It has not been abolished, the bill to repeal it has not been brought to Parliament. The act is still there.

“We ask the police to be prudent, to use their discretion,” he told reporters after attending a Prisons Department event at the Kajang prison today.

Police have to weigh whether a case is seditious or not and if there is strong evidence to support it, he said.

“Police can still use the Sedition Act. The cabinet has given its views, they (police) will need to be careful whether they use the act or another law.”

Muhyiddin acknowledged that Pakatan Harapan plans to repeal the colonial-era law as it had been abused in the past but added that there are “still individuals who are issuing statements on sensitive matters”.

In recent weeks, the Sedition Act was used in the arrest of those who posted comments which insulted Islam on social media. Some have been charged under the act as well as the Communications and Multimedia Act.

Muhyiddin added that the ministry is in the final stages of amending the Sedition Act to remove certain provisions.

As an example of these changes, he said, “if someone insults me and says they hate the home minister, they can say it. There are people we like and people we don’t like. This should not be considered an insult.

“But when it is said against the royalty or important institutions in our country, then we should take it seriously.”

Muhyiddin’s remarks today appear to contradict Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong.

Liew said in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday Putrajaya is still reviewing the act with the intention of abolishing it.

The government will also issue a directive to police not to use the act, Liew said. – March 20, 2019.