Student activist sentenced as human rights campaigners sound the alarm
Malaysia is continuing its drastic crackdown on dissent, sentencing student activist Adam Adli Halim to a year in jail for statements he made at a forum in Kuala Lumpur in May accusing the government of voter fraud.
“Adam Adli is the latest victim of this sustained assault against freedom of expression in Malaysia,” according to a statement by Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch in Bangkok. “By throwing people in prison for political speech, Prime Minister Najib and his government are showing the kind of authoritarian tendencies one usually associates with single-party rule rather than democracy.”
The darkening picture is one of a government increasingly concerned that, after 50-odd years in power, it is losing its grip although the opposition is in equal disarray from internal dissension. It is also clear that the law is being used selectively, with inflammatory anti-minority statements made by the likes of Ibrahim Ali, the firebrand leader of the Malay supremacy NGO Perkasa, and other Malay supremacists ignored by the authorities.
So far, 14 people have been arrested for sedition over the past year, at least one for statements made as long as two years ago. Another was arrested over comments earlier this year about a five-year-old political controversy.
The first was the former Perak State Governor, Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, from the opposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia, or PAS, who allegedly defamed Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in remarks he made in Ipoh in April of 2012 concerning the 2009 Perak political crisis. Critics have accused Najib of bribing three Perak state assembly members to switch from the opposition to independent, allowing the Barisan Nasional to oust the state government won by the opposition in the 2009 election.
The second case involves Dr. Azmi Sharom, a University of Malaya professor who was charged over comments printed in a column in the Malay Mail over the 2009 Perak events. Those who read the column have been unable to figure out just what the charge relates to, illustrating the problem with the law, which critics say is so vague that it can be used against almost any form of speech.
Najib promised to do away with the sedition law, the even more draconian Internal Security Act, which allows for unlimited detention without trial, and elements of the Printing Presses Act which limits the establishment of a free press. However, after the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, and particularly the United Malays National Organization, lost the popular vote in May 2013 to the opposition for the first time since 1969 – although retaining a majority in parliament through gerrymandering – Najib came under a blistering attack from former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his allies, who accused him of weakness in corralling dissent
As a result, while the Internal Security Act was repealed, it was replaced with one almost as strict, much of it based on the US Patriot Act pushed through after the 9/11 attacks. The Printing and Presses Act was modified slightly but it still hamstrings the independent press. The Sedition Act has remained in place and is being used as a weapon to throttle almost any comment by the opposition. Those found guilty face the possibility of five years in prison and a fine of RM5,000.
“The government of Prime Minister Najib Razak should repeal the Sedition Act, which has repeatedly been used to prosecute people for political purposes in violation of the right to freedom of expression,” Human Rights Watch said in its statement. “The government is increasingly using the Sedition Act to instill fear and silence in political opponents and critics.”
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Malaysia Tightens the Sedition Screws Again
SEPTEMBER 2014 – Asia Sentinel
For A Better Malaysia 