Claiming political interference, Pakatan wants AG to reveal Umno leaders he met covertly
(Malay Mail Online) – Pakatan Rakyat (PR) demanded today the Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail reveal the names of Umno leaders who met him and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar in a secret meeting to discuss the controversial Sedition Act.
The federal opposition pact also questioned whether the AG launched its series of sedition prosecutions against its leaders on the orders of those Umno leaders after an alleged meeting on August 14.
“We want to warn the AG Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to name and reveal all Umno division leaders who were present in the closed-door meeting on August 14,” PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu told reporters here.
He also questioned the reason why it is only now that the AG is acting on police reports made by the Umno leaders, which PR claimed was “obviously politically motivated”.
“If the AG fails to answer these questions, the public’s perception that he has misused the power just for the sake of the ruling party’s satisfaction might be true,” said Mohamad.
“Public confidence towards the freedom and the fair administration of justice will also now be tarnished.”
Mohamad, who is also behind Gerakan Hapus Akta Hasutan (GHAH), also announced the group pushing for the abolition of the Sedition Act, will be holding a fundraising dinner at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall on October 27.
Also present at today’s press conference were PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang, DAP national vice-chairman Teresa Kok, Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng, and political activists Hishamuddin Rais and Adam Adli Abd Halim.
Last month, PKR central committee member Latheefa Koya alleged that during the August 14 meeting attended by 60 Umno division leaders, both the country’s top lawyer and national police chief were told to act on all police reports lodged against government critics.
Fingering Umno again, Latheefa claimed that the investigation and arrests of opposition lawmakers under the Sedition Act over the past few weeks were in response to reports lodged by members of the ruling party.
Putrajaya has come under heavy public scrutiny for its ongoing sedition crackdown, which has seen at least 20 anti-government dissidents, opposition politicians and a journalist booked in the space of one month.
This is despite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s promise to do away with the repressive Sedition Act 1948 three times in the span of two years, and replace it with a National Harmony Act with the most recent occasion on September 5.
But with growing pressure from conservatives within his own party, Umno, Najib said recently that the government may not repeal the Sedition Act after all if replacement laws were inferior.
Defenders of the Sedition Act, primarily pro-establishment conservatives including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, contend that its removal will open the floodgates of attacks against the Bumiputera, Islam, and the Malay rulers in the absence of another pre-independence law that has since been repealed, the Internal Security Act.
