DAP chairperson Karpal Singh's sedition conviction yesterday is "perverse, and erodes confidence in judiciary", said PKR vice president N Surendran.

"The verdict has stunned the nation; it marks the total failure of justice and the rule of law in Malaysia.

"The verdict is arbitrary, perverse and plainly wrong," he said in a statement today.

"Karpal had merely expressed a legal opinion on the Perak constitutional crisis in 2009. How can this be a crime?

"It is a perverse decision, as it is unjustifiable on the facts of the case and totally unsupportable under our criminal jurisprudence," he said.

In March 2009 Karpal was charged with sedition for saying at a press conference that Perak Sultan Azlan Shah could be taken to court in his official capacity for authorising the removal of  the then Pakatan Rakyat Perak Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin.

He was originally acquitted of the charge by the High Court in 2010, without his defence being called.

This was overturned by the Court of Appeal on Jan 20, 2012, which was why the matter was sent back to the High Court.

'Politically motivated prosecution'

Surendran said yesterday's verdict "offends against the people's right to freedom of speech under Article 10 of the federal constitution".

"By bringing this ridiculous and politically motivated charge, the attorney-general Gani Patail and his chambers have disgraced themselves and are proven to be stooges of Umno-BN," he added.

The Padang Serai MP lamented that the judiciary has "generally failed to safeguard the rakyat's basic rights" guaranteed under the constitution.

"Umno-BN must stop using the police, AG and politically motivated prosecutions in order to silence and threaten the opposition.

"The government and the AG must concede that Karpal was wrongly convicted; they must do the right thing and not oppose Karpal's appeal in the Court of Appeal," he said.

MCA: Where's Najib's promise?

Meanwhile, MCA said Karpal's conviction is a reminder of an unfulfilled promise that Prime Minister Najib Razak had made to abolish the highly criticised Sedition Act.

"We are reminded that the prime minister had, by promising to repeal the Sedition Act, impliedly admitted that the said law is archaic, draconian and not suitable for modern time." said MCA Youth legal bureau chairperson Choo Wei Sern in a statement.

"Given the prime minister's promise in 2012, it is not right for the police to use the said law to investigate anyone, let alone for the attorney-general to continue prosecuting an individual under the sedition law," he added.

He urged the government to speed up the efforts to repeal the Act offering MCA's assistance in helping to enact replacement laws.

"We are of the view that this should be carried out immediately by the government, especially at this point in time where certain quarters are trying to fan hatred amongst the different communities that leads to an unhealthy, tensed situation in this country.

"This is a pertinent issue which requires the government's immediate attention, and which should be forthwith addressed," said Choo.