The Malaysian Bar - Bar Council, opposition condemn arrest of Wong Chin Huat

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Bar Council, opposition condemn arrest of Wong Chin Huat

Thursday, 07 May 2009 12:46am

©The Sun (Used by permission)

PETALING JAYA (May 6,2009) : The Malaysian Bar today condemned the arrest of social activist and writer Wong Chin Huat under the Sedition Act 1948.

Its president Ragunath Kesavan said: "The Bar is concerned that the police have resorted to the use of the Act yet again to stifle public opinion and dissenting voices that are unfavourable to the ruling government. The police should be above politics.

"The police must remain above politics to regain public confidence as an institution not mired in politics. It must not be seen as a tool to intimidate and cow those who express disagreement."

"The arrest of Wong, seemingly for the 'crime' of advocating that those who disagree with the events unfolding in Perak wear black tomorrow, does not augur well for the Prime Minister's promise of openness and respect for the people. Healthy and open debate on issues of public concern must be permitted," he said.

Ragunath, who condemned the manner in which Wong was arrested yesterday night and denied counsel, said the Bar was firmly opposed to the Act which he labelled an "affront to democracy".

"We reiterate our stand that authoritarian and repressive legislation such as the Act is an absolute affront to democracy. We strongly urge the Government to repeal the Act, and to refrain from using it, particularly against those whose viewpoints differ from the ruling government's," said Ragunath who called for the release of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) spokesman.

Wong's arrest was also condemned by Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who defended Wong's call for all Malaysians to wear black in protest of the Barisan Nasional takeover of the Perak government.

"Wong's call to the public to wear black on May 7 as a sign of protest is an opinion that is not in breach of his rights as a citizen of Malaysia and the practice of democracy," he added.

DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) deputy chairman Jenice Lee called on all Malaysians to heed the call by Bersih to wear black today as a sign of protest over the Barisan Nasional (BN) takeover of the Perak State Assembly.

Key sections of the Sedition Act

What is sedition?

This is defined under Section 3 (1) of the Sedition Act 1948. Basically, these are acts that have a tendency to

» bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against any ruler or against any government, or against the administration of justice

» to raise discontent or disaffection amongst the people to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races; or to question any matter, right, status, position, privilege, sovereignty or prerogative established or protected by the provisions of part III of the Federal Constitution or Article 152, 153 or 181 of the Federal Constitution.

Section 4 further states that anyone who "does or attempts to do, or makes any preparation to do, or conspires with any person to do" an act with seditious tendency, such as uttering seditious words, or printing, publishing or importing seditious literature, is guilty of sedition. It is also a crime to possess a seditious publication without a "lawful excuse".

It defines sedition itself as anything which "when applied or used in respect of any act, speech, words, publication or other thing qualifies the act, speech, words, publication or other thing as having a seditious tendency".

Are there any exceptions?

Section 3(2) provides examples of speech which cannot be deemed seditious. It is not seditious to:

» show that any ruler has been misled or mistaken in any of his measures;

» to point out errors or defects in the government or Constitution as by law established;

» to point out, with a view to their removal, any matters producing or having a tendency to produce feelings of ill-will and enmity between different races or classes of the population of the Federation.

However, the Act explicitly states that any matter covered by subsection (1)(f), namely those matters pertaining to the Malaysian social contract, cannot have these exceptions applied to it.

What's the punishment for sedition?

On conviction, a first-time offender can be jailed up to three years, or fined not more than RM5,000 or both. A repeat offender can be jailed up to five years.

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