INVESTIGATIONS into the publisher of a book that had used an artistic rendition of the country’s coat of arms on the book’s cover is a “manufactured controversy”, Lawyers for Liberty said today.

The legal rights advocacy group said there was no law against artistic renditions of the coat of arms or Jata Negara, as the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act 1963 only prohibits the use of the official coat of arms without the written permission of the Minister.

“It does not prohibit any artistic rendition inspired from the nation’s coat of arms, such as the one used on the cover of the book, which no sane person would mistake for the country’s actual coat of arms,” LFL said in a statement.

The group was criticising calls by Umno Youth chief Dr Asyraf Wajdi for action to be taken against the creators and publishers of the book: Rebirth: Reformasi, Resistance, And Hope In New Malaysia for the alleged offence of defacing and insulting the country’s coat of arms.

“We must correct the erroneous allegation that an offence was committed.

“This manufactured controversy is an obvious attempt to strong-arm citizens from exercising their freedom of speech.

“There is no reason why the authorities should entertain this false outrage and empty controversy any longer.”

Police yesterday raided the premises of the book’s publisher, Gerakbudaya, where around 300 copies of the book were stored.

The book, a collection of essays on Malaysia’s political landscape after the historic 2018 general election, was published earlier this year and has been on sale for nearly six months.

A check today of Gerakbudaya’s website shows that the title has been removed from its online store.

The publisher yesterday said it had no intention to insult the national coat of arms and also promised to co-operate with the police.

LFL noted however, that the artwork on the book’s cover was not new and had been part of an exhibition in Kuala Lumpur in 2014.

This was when Barisan Nasional was the government of the day, it said.

“Thus, it begs the question as to why such artwork is only now considered offensive and unacceptable?”

LFL also said that other laws being used in the investigation into the book for insulting the national coat of arms, such as the Sedition Act, the Printing Press & Publication Act 1984 and the Communications and Multimedia Act should be repealed in the coming Parliament meeting. – July 1, 2020.