The arbitrariness of the Sedition Act
By Sonia Randhawa (The Nut Graph)
Lim Guan EngTHE roll call of those who've been prosecuted or investigated for sedition in Malaysia is an illustrious one. Lim Guan Eng, Karpal Singh, Zulkifli Sulong, and, of course, Malaysiakini. With his arrest and possible prosecution, Wong Chin Huat entered into august company.
A cursory glance through the major cases over the last 30 years reveals one common thread. Not one of them has advocated the violent overthrow of the state. Instead, they have all criticised individuals in
government or government policies or the actions of the component political parties. However, this, to a large extent, is the function of opposition political parties and the media: to act as a check to executive power.
The rationale for any sedition act is to protect the state from violent overthrow. But across the world, democracies have been slowly dismantling their legislation on sedition. And in countries such as Australia where legislatures have enacted new provisions restricting sedition to inciting the state's violent overthrow, these haven't even been used.
Read more at: http://www.thenutgraph.com/arbitrariness-of-sedition-act
