On Tuesday, 7 April 2015, the government tabled amendments to the Sedition Act in Parliament.
By Hew Lee Yee — 09 Apr 2015, 08:38 PM
Cover image via malaysia-today.netOn Tuesday, 7 April, amendments to the Sedition Act were tabled and on Friday, 10 April, after a 14-hour long debate, the bill has been passed, making the updated Sedition Act an official law now
Parliament today passed a Bill to amend the Sedition Act 1948 after a record debate, effectively granting wider jurisdiction to the authorities to take action on speech or activities that are seen as seditious in nature.
The Bill was passed on a simple majority following a voice vote at 2.30am, after it was debated for over 14 hours and was subjected to one bloc vote at the second reading that ended with 108 MPs for and 79 against.
Putrajaya previously pledged to repeal the Sedition Act that critics say is used to stifle political opposition and dissent, but later announced in November last year that it will be retained and expanded instead.
What's the deal with the new Sedition Act? We give you the gist of it:
The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department said when there was a proposition to repeal the Act, various parties, including intellectuals and professionals, wanted the legislation to be retained to maintain harmony in the country.
"They are worried that provocations against the royal institution, religion, race, and language will become common especially via social media. So they voiced their concerns because they are extremely worried that provocation will spark tensions when people insult their race or religion," [Nancy Shukri] told reporters at Parliament's lobby.
However, Nancy said she was relieved when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak decided to retain it with some amendments.
The amendment is in line with the aspiration of the government to be more open and enable the public to give feedback or criticism against the government towards setting up an administration which is transparent and responsible in Malaysia.
The act of inciting hatred, contempt or causing dissatisfaction against the government will no longer be offences under the Sedition Act when an amendment to the act is approved.
However, the Malay rulers are still off limits and inciting hatred, contempt or dissatisfaction against that institution will land you in jail for a lengthier time.
This bill is also aimed at deleting paragraph 3(1)(c) of the same act to make the act of sowing hatred or contempt or raising dissatisfaction towards the administration of justice in Malaysia no longer regarded as inciting, and as such, would no longer be dealt with as an offence under the act.
Nevertheless, to protect the sanctity of religions professed by the multi-religious communities in the country, the government proposed that any individual spreading bad feelings, hostility or hatred between any person or group by using religion, be regarded as having committed an offence under the act.
However, to avoid ambiguity, in relation to Islam, religion refers to the Hukum Syarak as codified under any written law and shall not include any deviant teachings.
The updated Sedition Act, however, removes a fine as punishment, replacing it with a compulsory jail term.
Furthermore, the old law provided for a maximum jail term of up to three years allowing the courts to maybe let off an offender with only a few months jail. But the latest version of the Sedition Act guarantees a convicted person a minimum of three years behind bars which can go up to seven years.
The new Sedition Act also stipulates a new kind of offence whereby any act of sedition that leads to bodily injury or damage of property will be punishable by at least five years in jail and up to 20 years behind bars.
For sedition offences resulting in bodily injury or damage to property, an accused can be denied bail if this is backed by a public prosecutor in writing ie. that it would not be in public interest to grant bail.
This particular offence also excludes all forms of leniency meaning a young offender or a first-time offender will not be let off lightly.
In what appeared to be a response to those who fled the country after being charged with sedition, anyone charged with committing sedition (Section 4) must now surrender their passports.
If the accused has yet to have any international travel documents, the courts can order the Immigration director-general not to issue any such documents until the case is resolved.
Now, the worrying parts of the amendment bill. First of all, the bill will take away judicial discretion in sentencing. The Court no longer has the option to impose fines upon conviction of a Section 4 sedition offence. Instead, there is now an imprisonment sentence of 3 years. The maximum sentence will also be increased to up to 7 years.
There is absolutely no justification for this. For an Act as wide as the Sedition Act, with no element of intention that must be proven, as well as the disproportionately high conviction rate, judicial discretion in sentencing may at least cushion some of the more draconian aspects of the law. It may be difficult for the Court to acquit a person as the Act casts a wide net on what is deemed to be seditious, but at the very least the Court has options when it comes to sentencing. The bill will take away that option.