#mansuhaktahasutan to push for abolishment of Sedition Act

The Bar Council's National Young Lawyers Committee (NYLC) has launched #mansuhaktahasutan -- a year-long nationwide campaign aimed at pressing the government to fulfill its promise the repeal the 'draconian, obsolete and archaic' Sedition Act 1948.

"This is a year-long campaign to pressure the government to fulfill its promise to repeal the Sedition Act," said NYLC chairman Syahredzan Johan at the campaign's launch held here, last night.

“The campaign also aims to raise awareness on why the Act should be repealed and to create a critical mass against the Act in order to push for political will," he added.

Among the initiatives that will be carried out throughout the year include a social media drive, workshops, #mansuhaktahasutan signature drive -- in an effort to demonstrate a huge support from the mass -- to repeal the Act. The effort will eventually be presented to the federal government at the end of the campaign.

“There are people who still think the Sedition Act is important to maintain national harmony but it actually violates and suppresses the freedom of expression,” Shahredzan added.

Besides calling for repeal, the campaign also calls out for all current sedition charges to be dropped.

There has been a spate of sedition charges recently, mostly against politicians from the opposition front.

In a recent development, University of Malaya law professor Azmi Sharom became the first academician to be charged under the law over comments he made pertaining to the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis. He was charged on Monday.

"The Sedition Act is used as a political tool, dressed up as legislation. It's a weapon used to threaten society and to suppress frank and open debate in the society," said Malaysian Bar Council president Christopher Leong at the launch.

Meanwhile, former Malaysian Bar president and human rights activist Datuk S. Ambiga condemned the persecution on parliamentarians, academicians and journalists using the Sedition Act.

On Thursday, Malaysiakini journalist Susan Loone became the latest individual arrested for a ‘seditious’ article over an interview with Penang state exco Phee Boon Poh and the mass arrests of the state's Voluntary Patrol Unit (PPS), published Sept 1.

"Now, they are are picking on journalists for doing their job. The National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJ) must stand up against this," said Ambiga when met at the launch.

"This campaign is not just abolishing the Sedition Act. It's also about containing unbridled power and halting the abuse of the power.

"This campaign is also to show the authorities and leaders we want a more humane society. We must treat our lawyers, politicians and journalists with respect," Ambiga added.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, on July 11, 2012, had pledged to repeal the Sedition Act and replace it with the National Harmony Act. The Sedition Act however, remains in force.