The Democratic Action Party (DAP) seems to be a little confused as to how it wants to regard Malaysia’s Sedition Act.
Ranking members of the DAP, including popular (and controversial) Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and the late Karpal Sing have had charges of sedition levelled against them; indeed, Karpal was found guilty of sedition and fined RM4,000 before his untimely death.
The party, one-third of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition, has frequently been critical of the Sedition Act as being a tool abused by the federal government to stifle dissent and free speech. It has also gone as far as to have called for the repeal of the law outright: the DAP and the opposition welcomed the Najib administration’s announcement in 2012 that the Sedition Act 1948 would be repealed, hollering good riddance to an archaic, draconian law. (The law has yet to be repealed, of course. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is keeping it in place while a new “National Harmony Act” is put together to take its place.)
According to The Malay Mail, Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guang Eng yesterday called for the resignation of attorney-general Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, over what Lim terms is the abuse of the Sedition Act to silence opposition leaders, particularly Teresa Kok over her ‘Onederful Malaysia’ YouTube video which got her hauled into court this week.
Lim cited Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali and Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) as examples, noting that both escaped punishment even after issuing racially-charged remarks touching on the sensitivities of the country’s non-Muslims.
“The AG should resign for abuse of powers, practicing double-standards and selective prosecution against DAP leaders,” the Bagan MP said in a statement.
So it could be said that even under the best circumstances, the DAP are not fans of the Sedition Act at all.
But there’s a flipside to the party’s stance on the law. At the same time Lim Guan Eng was calling out the Attorney-General for using the Sedition Act 1948 to silence dissent, another Malay Mail report described other DAP lawmakers cheering inspector-general of police Tan Sri Khalid Abdul Bakar’s decision to open investigations into Malay Muslim rights group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA) and its president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman over his disturbing remarks about Malaysian Chinese.
“I hope it is not an empty promise. I hope they seriously look into and stern action be taken against the party who make this provoking, seditious statement,” said DAP’s Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng.
Is the Sedition Act 1948 an archaic, draconian law prone to abuse and unfit for implementation in the 21st century, if indeed it ever was, or does it serve some use for Malaysians who find themselves offended and threatened by hate speech? Should any speech or idea, hateful though it may be to any portion of society, be punishable as an act of sedition? Or will the victims of such legal abuse only complain about the law when it’s being used against them, and look the other way when it’s their opponents being subjected to it?
See Also:
Teresa Kok pleads not guilty to sedition charge over ‘Onederful Malaysia’ video
IGP: ISMA being investigated for sedition
Photo: Hitoribocchi / Flickr
