KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — Universiti Malaya law lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Azmi Sharom has applied to challenge the constitutionality of the Sedition Act as the colonial era legislation was not enacted by Parliament.

“Article 10(2) of the Federal Constitution expressly states that only Parliament may by law impose restrictions on the right conferred under Article 10, which we say guarantees freedom of speech,” Gobind told reporters.

The lawyer noted that the controversial Act — which has been exercised to snare opposition politicians and activists in the past month — was enacted prior to Malaysia’s independence in 1957 and gazetted as law following a review by the Law Revision Commission.

“It was not passed through Parliament and therefore it cannot restrict the rights of Dr Azmi Sharom to freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 10(2) of the Federal Constitution,” contended Gobind.

On September 2, Azmi was charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948 at the Sessions Court here  for a remark he made in an article published on Malay Mail Online.

Section 4(1)(b) states that “uttering any seditious words” is an offence punishable with a fine not exceeding RM5,000 for a first time offence, or imprisonment not exceeding five years for subsequent offences.

The law lecturer pleaded not guility for his quotes in a Malay Mail Online article published on August 14 and titled, “Take Perak crisis route for speedy end to Selangor impasse, Pakatan told”.

In it, Azmi had cautioned Pakatan Rakyat (PR) against taking any action outside the Selangor state assembly to resolve the ongoing impasse over the Selangor mentri besar’s post, and insisted the lawmakers wait until next sitting to indicate their lack of confidence.

Gobind said that the Sessions Court has the powers to transfer the case to the High Court as it is a matter of “constitutional concern”.

The lawyer, who is also the Puchong DAP MP, urged Putrajaya to hold back all other sedition cases until Azmi’s application is disposed off.

Azmi is the first academic to be charged following a string of cases over recent weeks where opposition politicians were hauled to court for alleged sedition.

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.