KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — The fact that only 6 per cent of investigations under the Sedition Act 1948 ended up with charges in court in the last seven years shows that the law is abused to quell dissent, a PKR lawmaker alleged today.

Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin said the Home Ministry’s parliamentary reply that out of the 409 cases investigated under the colonial-era law from 2008 to February 2015, only 26 ended up being charged in court, proved that many cases did not have much standing to begin with.

“We suspect that the 409 arrests is an abuse of power and meant to scare the public,” Sim said in a press conference at Parliament today.

“With only 26 cases charged in court, equivalent to 6 per cent, this means that many of the cases did not have ‘prima facie’ that can be convicted,” he said, referring to the Latin term that means sufficient evidence at first impression.

In a written reply by the Home Ministry, 409 cases were investigated under the Sedition Act from 2008 to February 2015.

Out of the 409 investigations, 26 were charged in court, 99 investigations were ongoing and 30 cases have been referred to the deputy public prosecutor.

In its written reply, the Home Ministry also pointed out that Malaysians should be grateful the government didn't go through with its plan to repeal the Sedition Act after the law was recently used against those who try to “break the current unity” in Malaysia.

“With the change in the times along with certain parties who try to break the the current unity, new groups have been created to try and incite the public to turn against the government.

“We should firstly say congratulations and thank you to the government for being at the ready from the start to amend the act before something unwanted happened,” the ministry said.

It maintained the Sedition Act is still “relevant until today,” and urged Malaysians to continue to support the 1948 law.

In recent months, many opposition leaders, activists, academics, lawyers and journalists have been investigated or charged under the Sedition Act 1948, which critics say is used to quell dissent.

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.

In April, Parliament passed a controversial bill amending the Sedition Act, a colonial-era law that Putrajaya had previously promised to repeal, effectively granting wider jurisdiction to the authorities to take action on speech or activities that are seen as seditious in nature.