KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — The Malaysian Bar urged the government today not to prosecute those who rioted at Low Yat Plaza under the Sedition Act, claiming that use of the preventive colonial-era law has over the years prevented racial and religious differences from being addressed.
Malaysian Bar president Steven Thiru said it was unnecessary for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to warn that the 1948 law will be used against those who had taken part in the weekend violence at the mall that has since led to the arrest of 24 individuals.
“The Sedition Act 1948 denies the constitutional freedoms of speech and expression,” Steven said in a statement.
“Resort to this archaic and oppressive law has forced race— or religion-based differences to be swept under the carpet, and made to fester under a veneer of unity.
“It has prevented and discouraged important issues of concern from being properly and genuinely addressed, and has led to discord that may well become deep-seated and intractable,” he added.
The head of the professional legal body in peninsular Malaysia said those who had engaged in hate speech, incited violence, damaged property or harmed people, should be investigated and prosecuted under the Penal Code instead.
Steven also warned the authorities not to use the Low Yat riot as an excuse to further control usage of the Internet and social media.
“To do so would be akin to using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, given the existence of sufficient prohibitions in the Penal Code. Any attempt to restrict access to the Internet would violate Article 10(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and expression,” he said.
Blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, better known as Papagomo, was arrested last night for spreading false information online about the Sunday brawl at Low Yat Plaza, though Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar did not specify what law the blogger was nabbed under.
Malay Armed Forces Veterans Association president Mohd Ali Baharom, known as Ali Tinju, was arrested under the Sedition Act for making a racially-charged speech before the riot.
The riot came after 22-year-old Shahrul Anuar Abdul Aziz was reportedly handed to the police for allegedly stealing a mobile phone Saturday, after which his accomplice contacted their friends who then allegedly assaulted workers from the mobile phone store and caused an estimated RM70,000 in damages.
Rumours had spread on social media after the alleged theft that the Chinese trader had sold the Malay man a counterfeit phone, leading to calls for boycotts of “cheating” Chinese traders and the complex itself.
Shahrul pleaded not guilty yesterday to stealing a smartphone costing RM800.
