KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — The sedition probe against Nurul Izzah Anwar over her speech in Parliament is illegal and unconstitutional as the Federal Constitution provides immunity over anything said by a lawmaker during assembly sittings, PKR said today.
Lawyer and PKR vice-president N. Surendran pointed out that the police investigation against Nurul Izzah was “a serious interference with the rights and privileges of Parliament” and that the Lembah Pantai MP’s speech did not touch on “sensitive” issues listed in the 1948 Sedition Act on matters related to race, citizenship or the position of Rulers in the country.
He demanded the Home Ministry to drop the police investigation against Nurul Izzah and also asked Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to “initiate an inquiry” over the alleged “breach of Parliamentary privilege.”
“MPs cannot be charged for anything said in Parliament unless they question the foregoing sensitive matters,” Surendran said in a statement.
The Padang Serai MP added that Nurul Izzah’s speech, which she made on behalf of jailed opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim merely criticised the conduct of judiciary in his sodomy trial- which is protected under Article 63 (2) of the Federal Constitution.
The said article of the constitution provides immunity to MPs for anything said during the Parliamentary session.
“Clearly, the speech made by Nurul Izzah on behalf of the opposition leader did not touch any of the matters prohibited by Section 3(1)(f) Sedition Act. Thus, no action or criminal proceeding can be commenced or maintained against her for criticism of the judiciary,” he said.
In the past however an exception was granted following the May 13, 1969 riots which exempted sensitive issues as listed by the Sedition Act from that immunity.
“The IGP Khalid Bakar and the state police chief are thus in contempt of the Dewan Rakyat for initiating a criminal investigation under the Sedition Act against Nurul Izzah,” he added, referring to Inspector-general of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
On February 10, the Federal Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s 2014 ruling that had reversed Anwar’s acquittal of sodomising former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, also sentencing him to five years’ jail.
On February 24, Anwar’s family sent a request for royal pardon to delay the disqualification of his Permatang Pauh seat, they also applied to the prison to temporarily release the opposition leader to attend tomorrow’s Parliamentary session.
However, they received a letter on March 4 from the Prisons Department rejecting their application.
