AFTER being charged in court for criticising the Perikatan Nasional administration, political activist Mustapa Mansor is now more careful about what he posts online.

“I have to be more careful as I don’t want to fall into their trap and have to fight multiple cases,” said the deputy president of Otai Reformasi ’98, a group allied with Pakatan Harapan.

Mustapa was forced to come up with RM6,000 for bail when he was charged on June 5 under Section 505b of the Penal Code for publishing a statement “conducing to public mischief”.

If found guilty, he faces up to two years in prison, or a fine, or both.

He was also questioned by police on June 1 over a YouTube video he made questioning if PN actually has the majority in Parliament.

“I will continue to post my YouTube videos because I have about 15,000 subscribers who appreciate my take on politics, especially on PN’s takeover of the government,” said Mustapa, a 53-year-old religious teacher.

“If I go silent, it will be a loss to freedom of speech and our democracy.”

Mustapa is one of a dozen activists, journalists and PH politicians who have been either questioned by police or charged in court in the first 3½ months of PN rule.

The criticisms include the pact’s parliamentary majority, its policies during the Covid-19 crisis, and its takeover of Putrajaya through defections and the alleged buying over of MPs from PH.

According to the Centre for Independent Journalism, the charges are under the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA), Sedition Act or Penal Code.

Activists told The Malaysian Insight that the crackdown on dissent is taking Malaysia back to the Barisan Nasional era before the May 2018 general election, when government critics would be hauled up by police and tied down by expensive trials.

Some said PN’s suppression of civil society and opposition voices is actually worse than in the BN era, as the reasons for hauling them up have, at times, been petty.

“I think it’s worse because some of the reasons are so trivial,” said human rights activist Marina Mahathir.

“For example, Hannah Yeoh was merely asking what’s going to happen to the child marriage roadmap,” she said, referring to the Segambut MP, who is set to give a statement to police on Tuesday.

Yeoh, who was deputy women, family and community development minister in the PH government, will be questioned over a Facebook post linked to her that she has said is fake.

She said she is also being questioned by police over a tweet on whether PN will continue PH’s plan to end child marriage.

Marina said PN’s campaign against dissent is galling, considering that some of its leaders were sanctioned for speaking out against BN.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, as well as his ministers, Mohamed Azmin Ali and Saifuddin Abdullah, were all once PH members who campaigned in the 14th general election against BN.

But in a dramatic U-turn in February, the trio abandoned PH and formed PN with their former rivals in BN and PAS.

“I have already been questioned by police for speaking out on the third day of this government. But, I will continue to speak out when I feel it’s necessary,” said Marina.

“If they go after me, it only confirms our assertion that they are more repressive than before. And, only insecure governments resort to such repression.”

Anti-graft activist Cynthia Gabriel, meanwhile, is being investigated under the Sedition Act and CMA for claiming that the government has been buying support.

“The prime minister promised a clean, accountable government, but it is disturbing to note that word has not met with deed,” said the executive director of the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4).

“What we see transpiring through political appointments is a backsliding on checks and balances, including on parliamentary scrutiny.”

She said C4 will remain steadfast in highlighting incidences of malpractice in PN, despite the “dark clouds ahead”.

Human rights activist and lawyer Siti Kasim said a recent Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission investigation into one of her Facebook posts will not deter her from speaking out.

“The world is looking at Malaysia, and we cannot live in our shells. Malaysians are not stupid, and the majority of them know that what the government is doing is an attempt to silence us.” – June 21, 2020.