KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 — Opposition politician S. Arutchelvan today pointed out that the government has moved to remove criticism of the courts and the executive as an offence under the Sedition Act 1948, a wrong he was accused of committing.

Shortly after being charged with sedition this morning, Arutchelvan called his prosecution over his criticism of a Federal Court’s decision a “waste of public funds and waste of public time”, also saying it was a “joke” to bring a case against him for statements similarly made by other media groups.

“And I would continue to say this is yet another political prosecution,” the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) central committee member told reporters here.

Arutchelvan, or Arul as he is popularly known, said the sedition charge against him goes against the fundamental human right to free speech.

“It’s a whole question of whether political parties or individuals in this country have the freedom of speech or freedom of expression to comment on anything,” the seasoned human rights activist said.

“I think basically this is a party’s statement on a judgment, I think as a responsible political party we have a right to make criticism on bad judgment,” he said of his February 10 statement as the PSM secretary-general then.

He also highlighted the political party had previously commented both positively or negatively on court decisions it deemed good or bad.

In the allegedly seditious statement by Arul that was read out in court today, he was said to have claimed among other things that the February 10 judgment in PKR politician Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s second sodomy case strengthened the belief that the courts are “not independent and politically driven”.

New Sin Yew, one of Arul’s lawyers, pointed out that the amendments to the Sedition Act, which have yet to come into force, includes the removal of criticism against the “administration of justice” including the judiciary as an offence.

“And that’s important because the government, the Parliament has recognised it’s not in the public’s interest to continue to have such an offence,” he told reporters outside the courtroom.

Saying that a prosecution should only be carried out when there is a public interest or a realistic chance of conviction, New added: “And there is nothing beneficial to the public to continue persecuting somebody who made a legitimate criticism against the judiciary”.

Arul claimed that the sedition case against him is meant to divert attention from other major issues in Malaysia and to wear down the federal opposition, besides allegedly to “disqualify people from standing in elections”.

In an immediate response today, Human Rights Watch’s deputy director of its Asia division, Phil Robertson called for the criminal charges against Arul to be dropped immediately.

“This prosecution is all about harassing a prominent and loud political critic, pure and simple,” he said in a brief statement.

“Once again, the Malaysian government is using the rights-abusing Sedition Act as a sword to strike at critics while failing to understand that every such prosecution takes the country farther from democracy and the so-called ‘moderate’ path that Prime Minister Najib extolled at the recently concluded Asean summit,” he added, calling for an end to sedition prosecutions and the revocation of the Sedition Act.

Gerakan Hapus Akta Hasutan (GHAH), a local coalition of 133 civil society groups called for the scrapping of the Sedition Act and described Arul’s prosecution along with a list of individuals under the same law as politically motivated.

Citing Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, GHAH also urged Putrajaya to uphold the right to voice out and express opinions.