Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak promised to repeal the Sedition Act in 2012 but reneged on his word two years later. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 12, 2016.First it was federal lawmaker Teresa Kok and today, it is law lecturer Associate Professor Dr Azmi Sharom – both left off the hook for sedition.
Kudos to the Attorney-General’s Chambers for reviewing such cases brought last year during a wave of arrests for alleged sedition.
To be sure, this is good first step by Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali but he needs to do more.
In effect, it is only the first baby steps as there are others whose sedition charges should be withdrawn and Putrajaya should follow up on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s promise to repeal the law.
Apandi said this today: “For the sake of justice, and after reviewing evidence from all prosecution witnesses who had testified in court, I, the attorney-general as the public prosecutor under Article 145 (3) of the constitution, in my discretion, decided to discontinue the prosecution of Associate Professor Dr Azmi Sharom to the charge under Section 4 (1) of the Sedition Act 1948.”
Apandi also said in carrying out its function under the law, the practice of reviewing criminal cases charged in court had and would continue.
He said such action was conducted in the past in the case of DAP vice-chairman Kok.
True. But others, too, require his attention. There is a list of a politicians, activists and academics arrested and a few charged with sedition.
Should they be charged under such a law or are there other laws that can be used even if they just spoke their mind – no matter how offensive it sounded at that time.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers should review these cases and the government of the day should repeal the law.
We are thankful that an academic is now free from the sedition charge but he should not have been charged in the first place for speaking his mind.
He is a law professor and his opinion is of academic importance, not something to be construed as offensive.
Malaysia needs such opinions as it must turn into an informed democracy rather than one left ignorant by those with vested interests to keep us blind and deaf to a spectrum of opinions.
Yet, one swallow does not a summer make. Kok and Azmi are freed from sedition charges, the others must also be set free from this law. – February 12, 2016.
Comments
Please refrain from nicknames or comments of a racist, sexist, personal, vulgar or derogatory nature, or you may risk being blocked from commenting in our website. We encourage commenters to use their real names as their username. As comments are moderated, they may not appear immediately or even on the same day you posted them. We also reserve the right to delete off-topic comments