KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Minister Datuk Paul Low today supported keeping the Sedition Act, claiming that the man on the street was afraid of the chaos that may ensue if the controversial law is scrapped.

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of integrity did not say how he concluded that the average person feared chaos.

“They have true fear that society is heating up,” Low said at a session on human rights at the International Malaysia Law Conference here today, again without backing evidence.

“I don’t believe that the government is trying to stifle, or put fear in the public, or civil society, to say things that are constructive; [they] can be even critical. But I think the line is drawn where things that are said are possibly, can cause chaos, remarks that incite hatred and violence, and of course in some cases, that touches on real sensitive issues,” he added.

The moderator for the session, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, asked Low on the chaos that may happen, he sidestepped the issue, saying instead that: “A certain amount of prevention is necessary as government of the day”.

Social activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, who was also part of the session, pointed out that riots did not occur even when a church was torched a few years ago.

“For the most part, Malaysians refused to buckle to that fear, refused to be provoked. They went about their business in a normal way,” said Marina.

Lawyer Tommy Thomas said that the Sedition Act 1948 was aimed at criminalising revolutions and armed violence.

“In all these 30 or 40 prosecutions, can the public prosecutor point out any example of violent, revolutionary change?” he asked.

At least 20 people have so far been investigated or charged under the colonial-era law over the past several weeks, as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration launched what critics described as a crackdown on government dissidents.

The kinds of speech that recently resulted in sedition probes or charges include profanities against a political party, criticisms of the police and the Malay royalty, as well as calls to overthrow the government through street protests, though violence was not explicitly mentioned in those cases.

Low also said today that selective prosecutions should not be carried out, even as the ongoing sedition dragnet has targeted politicians only from opposition parties.

“I believe that we should not allow witch-hunting,” said the government minister.