KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 ― Malaysia has more than enough laws that give the government “power over the people”, Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali said today.
Citing a John Lennon's song “Power to the people”, he noted that even without the recently-tabled Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) and the amended Sedition Act 1948, the country’s existing laws were sufficiently far-reaching.
“The key phrase here is ‘power to the people’ while the reality is that we have more than enough laws that give the Executive ‘power over the people’,” Azmin said in his speech at a human rights event here.
“The only thing that we are sure about these new laws is that the powers are wide ranging, far wider than before.
“They have also imposed a mandatory minimum three-year jail sentence upon conviction, taking away the discretionary powers of the courts in this regard,” he added.
Azmin further said this was an “insult” to the judiciary and all “peace-loving people who cherish justice and freedom”.
Pota and the amended Sedition Act were passed in Parliament early this month, both were debated through night-long sessions.
The Gombak MP also labelled the recent arrests of several opposition lawmakers and prominent civil society members as “a serious threat to democracy and rule of law”
“These developments therefore violate the letter and spirit of the people,” he added.
Since last year, several prominent Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders were arrested under Sedition Act 1948 for criticising the government. Arrests were also done on some well-known social activists.
The sedition dragnet continued this year with lawyer Eric Paulsen being the first to be charged under sedition for a post he made in social media.
Shortly after that, several PR leaders and activists who opposed the jailing of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim were subsequently arrested for sedition.
