Popularly regarded as one of UMNO’s few moderate, progressive voices, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin toed the party line today and expressed his support for the contentious Sedition Act 1948, which has been criticised by many for enabling the Federal Government to silence dissent.
Khairy, who is also UMNO and BN Youth chief, said the Sedition Act only targets those who threatened the nation’s stability through remarks that are classified as seditious.
He cited as an example the case of Ali Abdul Jalil, who was charged for sedition after calling for the abolition of Malaysia’s monarchy, as an obvious act of sedition.
“If his statement is not considered as seditious, then I do not know what can be said as seditious.
“The nation has to accept the fact that in Malaysia, although we cherish our freedom, especially our freedom to speak, it comes with a big responsibility and some limitations,” Khairy said, as quoted by The Rakyat Post.
Of late, there has been a wave of investigations and arrests under the Sedition Act 1948, mostly involving those whose views run counter to the Federal Government’s policies. International monitoring group Human Rights Watch has urged Putrajaya to stop using the Sedition Act to silence political dissent and to allow public discourse and freedom of expression.
The repeal of the Sedition Act was part of a raft of legislative reforms promised by Prime Minister Najib Razak more than two years ago. However, the replacement for the Act, as included in the National Harmony Bill, has been stalled at the drafting stage, and it is unclear if the Sedition Act will be repealed at all at this point.
