KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — The New York Times, an influential US daily, today urged Putrajaya to immediately abolish the Sedition Act 1948 that it is using in a “deplorable” crackdown on free speech over two years after promising its repeal.
In an opinion piece penned by the newspaper’s editorial board, the NYT decried the colonial era law as one so vaguely defined that it was essentially “an invitation to authoritarian abuse”.
Reminding Putrajaya of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 2012 promise to repeal the colonial era, the editors of the NYT said the Malaysian government instead went on to apply the law against critics and dissenting voices.
“Mr Najib’s crackdown is a deplorable attack on free speech and a serious threat to democracy. He appeared to understand this danger when he promised to repeal the Sedition Act. He should do so immediately,” the NYT editorial board wrote in the opinion piece today.
It then suggested that Putrajaya’s sedition blitz was in response to a weaker showing in Election 2013, in which the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition retained power but lost the popular vote to the informal opposition pact, Pakatan Rakyat.
In 2012, Najib pledged to replace the Sedition Act with laws on national harmony, as part of his legal reforms to afford Malaysians greater civil liberties.
Putrajaya was forced last month to repeat its commitment to do away with the law, after it was seen as targeting critics with a slew of sedition action.
At least 20 people including lawmakers, academics and activists have been investigated or charged under the Sedition Act in the space of one month recently, sparking criticisms that the government was abusing the law to quell dissent.
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.
