At 2.30am, the Dewan Rakyat passed controversial amendments to the Sedition Act 1948 — after 12 hours of debating the bill.
The amendments were passed by a vote of 108 to 79, The Malaysian Insider reports, noting that all but seven Opposition MPs showed up in Parliament.
The amended act will, among others, allow the court to order material deemed seditious to be removed from the Internet, give no leniency for first time or youthful offenders and impose a 20-year jail sentence for those found to have made seditious acts or statements that lead to bodily harm and property damage, reports TMI.
In 2012, Prime MInister Najib Razak promised to repeal the Sedition Act as well as the Internal Security Act — which allowed for detention without trial — only to backtrack this year and call for it to be used to protect all Malaysians.
In a statement posted on Facebook earlier today, Najib said leaders could change their minds from time to time as circumstances change in order to do the ‘best for the rakyat’.
“In order to realize our goal of building a stable, peaceful and harmonious state, the Sedition Act has been maintained. The Sedition Act is not just for Muslims; it is for the protection of all Malaysians. “
“It is aimed at preventing any person who promotes feelings of hostility between persons or groups on the grounds of religion – whether the religion attacked is Christianity, Hinduism, Islam or any of the other faiths Malaysia is proud to be home to.”
“We will not and cannot stand for the incitement of racial or inter-ethnic conflict. We have come too far to harm the progress that we have made. And that is why the government decided to keep the Sedition Act and amend it to make it a better and more suitable law,” Najib said.
