GENEVA – A group of United Nations human rights experts* urged Malaysia to withdraw the Sedition Act of 1948, after receiving allegations of increasing criminalisation of criticism of the government or its officials. “The Sedition Act is reportedly used in a way that prevents Malaysians from expressing and debating, freely and openly, a diverse range of political opinions and ideas,” the experts said. The 1948 Act, which carries sentences of up to three years in jail and five for recidivists, outlaws vague offenses, such as expressing ‘any seditious words’ or act with ‘seditious tendency’ that incite hatred or disaffection of the government or the judiciary, promotes hostility between different races or classes, or question any right, privilege, sovereignty prerogative stated in some parts of the Constitution. Independent experts from the UN Human Rights Council have received reports of at least 23 recent cases of persons charged with sedition -including elected members of Parliament, politicians, human rights defenders, academics, lawyers, students and journalists- for publishing or disseminating information and ideas through the Internet or traditional media. It has been reported that the Sessions Court allowed an application by one of the persons charged with sedition to... Continue reading →
