In a turn of events that could potentially upend the recent spate of investigations and arrests made under the Sedition Act 1948, Universiti Malaya (UM) law lecturer Prof Dr Azmi Sharom has been allowed to challenge the constitutionality of the law in Malaysia’s High Court.
Judge Zanol Rashid Hussain of the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, in weighing Azmi’s application to challenge the Sedition Act, ruled that a constitutional question had arisen and decided to refer the question to the High Court.
Azmi, who himself was charged under the Sedition Act for allegedly making seditious statements on the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis, applied to bring up a constitutional challenge against Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act, arguing that it contravened Article 10(2) of the Federal Constitution.
The Malay Mail Online‘s Ida Lim quotes Azmi’s legal counsel Gobind Singh Deo as saying on the challenge, “This constitutional point has not been argued before.”
Azmi’s constitutional challenge of the Sedition Act puts in stark relief the recent wave of investigations and arrests of Malaysians for sedition, mostly those perceived to be critical of the Federal Government and its policies.
International wartchdog organisation Human Rights Watch has urged the Malaysian government to stop using the Sedition Act to silence dissent.
Prime Minister Najib Razak had promised the repeal of the Sedition Act more than two years ago as part of his raft of legislative reforms, but the law’s replacement, as contained in the National Harmony Bill, has been stalled at the drafting stage.
It is unclear if the Sedition Act will ever be replaced with a law most Malaysians are more agreeable to.
