SHAH ALAM, 2 Sept: The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, should not be silent regarding the abuse of the Sedition Act to prosecute certain parties, especially among Pakatan Rakyat politicians.
The Member of Parliament for Seputeh, Teresa Kok, said that Najib should fulfil his promise to repeal the Sedition Act and replace it with the National Harmony Act which he touted in 2012.
She said that the absence of a new law should not be used as an excuse by the government to enforce the Sedition Act and abuse it.
“Why has the Prime Minister totally abandoned his pledged to make Malaysia the best democracy in the world?
“Is Malaysia going to face another political dark age worse than the period under the premiership of Tun Dr Mahathir?
“I must remind the Prime Minister that he must take full responsibility and blame for the continued use and abuse of the draconian Act.
Teresa said that Najib must show his sincerity of and commitment to his 2012 pledge by immediately repealing the archaic Act.
She also demanded for the sedition charges against political leaders and the latest, an academic from the University of Malaya, to be withdrawn immediately.
“It is clear that now that the government has become so intolerant that the dragnet has included academician.
“Malaysians who were already shocked with the slew of sedition charges against opposition lawmakers and angry with the unnecessary, highhanded police arrest of 155 PPS members on August 31 are now asking what has happened to this country and where the country is heading towards?” she added.
The University of Malaya lecturer of Law, Prof Dr Azmi Sharom, was brought before the Kuala Lumpure Sessions Court under the Sedition Act over an article which was published on a news portal on August 14 on the Selangor Chief Minister crisis.
Azmi was charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948.
Earlier, the Member of Parliament for Shah Alam, Khalid Samad, and the Assemblyman for Sri Delima, RSN Rayer, were charged in court under the same Act.
NS
