[To all my friends both international and local] Why are we moving to abolish the Sedition Act under the #MansuhAktaHasutan campaign? Its simple, and it has *nothing* to do with partisan politics or elections. The Sedition Act is simply bad law, period. Ill explain why, briefly. The article below has the text of the most relevant part of the Act, no paywall on this one. Alternatively, look here for the full Act: agc.gov.my/Akta/Vol.%201/Act%2015.pdf The law refers to seditious tendency, seditious words and seditious publications, and it defines to a limited extent what seditious tendency might mean. But the terms of it are so broad that you could conceivably arrest and convict anyone under it - and that is exactly what is happening now. If youre not already aware, there appears to be a dragnet of arrests under the Act underway - and a journalist is only the latest casualty. Some of the other people being charged under the Act include various opposition politicians, and a respected academic. Recently, one outspoken student activist was actually convicted of sedition - a bad sign of things to come. Of course, you might be someone whos not in favour of absolute free speech. Or you might think these opposition politicos are subversive radicals. We can debate that, but thats not the point of this campaign. The point is this: *even if* some people deserve to be punished for certain actions related to what they say/write/publish, the mechanism we use to charge these people shouldnt be the Sedition Act, because the Act makes it *too easy* to persecute many perfectly innocent people as well. So heres a few points on why its bad law: 1) Its outdated. Recall that the Act was a legacy of the old British colonial government, and in the UK its since been repealed. It was historically used to curb dissent against colonial governments (which is why the law makes reference to causing disaffection against the Rulers and the Government). It has no place in today, and there are other laws that people can be charged under. 2) The PM has promised to repeal it. PM Najib declared in 2012 that the law would be done away with. It still hasnt happened, but its pretty bad faith to keep enforcing a law that, by promising to repeal, youve admitted is deficient or lacking in some way. 3) The standard of proof is ridiculously low. This is probably the main technical reason the Sedition Act is such bad law. Other than seditious tendency having the ability to cover almost anything (look below to see what has resulted in a charge so far), the law also specifies no element of intent in the offence. Intention is a huge aspect of criminal law, and is not omitted without a damn good reason. So under the Act, as long as the court decides that what you published/said/wrote was seditious, youre on the hook - whether or not you were malicious or intended to do so. Note also that the Act does not say your actions must have resulted in anything - so even if what you did resulted in zero harm, as long as it has a tendency to cause those results, youre also on the hook. The draft NUCC bills aimed at replacing the Sedition Act solves much of this, and the hope is that that will pass - but we should not be waiting for that before repealing this Act. 4) Selective prosecution. This is a hugely aggravating factor. Of course, our stand is that *nobody* should be charged with sedition - even if we condemn their comments (as is the case with Ibrahim Ali). But the fact that many people making reasonable criticisms have been charged, while clear troublemakers making deliberately racist, inflammatory remarks have not, speaks to how easy it is to abuse the powers of the Act. Of course, selective prosecution is a somewhat separate problem that wont go away just by replacing the law - but if we at least had a new law that set a higher burden or standard, then the effects of abuse will be limited. 5) People are being charged for ridiculous reasons. Lets see what kind of evil subversive acts people are getting charged over - Azmi Sharom, the academic most recently charged, was giving an academic legal opinion over a political crisis happening in the state of Selangor. N Surendran, an opposition MP, was charged for making a legal criticism of a court decision. Teresa Kok, another MP, was charged over a satirical video poking fun at government figures. The late Karpal Singh, a respected lawyer and MP, was charged for criticising the actions of a royal (something which the Act actually prohibits). Another assemblyperson was charged for insulting a political party (since when do parties get such protection?). Indian rights activist P Uthayakumar is still rotting in jail for sedition - for sending a letter to then-PM Gordon Brown over racist institutionalised government policies in Malaysia. And of the most recent cases, the most ridiculous must surely be that of a 17-year-old student who is being investigated for sedition, for allegedly liking an I love Israel Facebook page. 6) Who hasnt been charged? This is just an add-on to the point about selective prosecution. Nobody who understands the cause is asking for these people to be charged, but it speaks to the double standards present that they havent been. The list is too long to produce here, but lets just take the most recent comment: former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad said that only Malays truly fought for independence, while those of other races had more self-serving interests in supporting the cause. Any prosecutor bringing a charge against him would score a slam dunk under the broad, ridiculous scope of the Act, but I can tell you with near certainty that nobody will touch him. All of this (and more) is part of the reason why the National Young Lawyers Committee (NYLC) has launched its campaign to get rid of this colonial relic. This is a non-partisan movement, because the Sedition Act is bad news for you, whether youre a government supporter, opposition supporter, or neither. Write about it on Facebook and tweet using the hashtag (#MansuhAktaHasutan - Abolish the Sedition Act). This is where even armchair activism can help a lot - share the statuses, help explain why the Act is to bad, sign the petitions that go around and pitch in ideas for the campaign. If youre feeling up to it, and I hope you are, attend the forums and any walks that will be organised. Go to court to express your support for the people being charged. Keep it in the public Internet sphere. If you have any problems with anything Ive written, feel free to bring it up with me and lets talk about it. Or you can sit and do nothing, but as the Niemöller-attributed poem says, once theyre done with the rest of us and come for you, there wont be anyone left to speak for you.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 16:07:52 +0000
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