SEDITIOUS offences related to royalty, race and religion have to be placed under other laws before the Sedition Act can be repealed, Deputy Home Minister Mohd Azis Jamman told the Dewan Rakyat today.

“The Home Ministry believes that the offences pertaining to the protection of the royal institution, race and religion must be maintained by moving the sections to existing laws such as the Penal Code.

“This is to ensure there are no gaps in the law when the Sedition Act is repealed,” said Azis (Warisan-Sepanggar).

The amendments will only be done after the ministry completes its study on the act’s repeal, he said.

Police will still continue to take action against any party who insults or stirs religious issues.

He, however, did not say when the study to repeal the Sedition Act will be completed.

Azis was responding to Halimah Mohamed Sadique (BN-Kota Tinggi) on whether the government was planning to enact new laws or amend existing ones to deal with religious issues.

He added that the government also planned to increase awareness programmes to educate Malaysians on the sensitivities of the “3Rs” – royalty, religion and race. – October 31, 2019.