Universiti Malaya students and academic staff are standing by law lecturer Azmi Sharom, saying the sedition charge "further darkens the darkest era" in Malaysia.

Urging for the charge to be dropped, the UM Academic Staff Union (Pkaum) and the Malaysian Academic Movement (Move) said the charge against the associate professor is a move to "instill fear in the academic community".

"This will indicate that free expression is not tolerated in Malaysia and there exist no 'real' academic freedom; mitigating the nation’s intellectual development effort.

"The efforts to make Malaysia an international hub of higher education will also be compromised. All the efforts made by the government, universities and the academics will be wasted.

"The reputation of Malaysian universities, especially the University of Malaya, would slide back many years to being third world universities in a third world country," they said in joint statement.

They added that Azmi’s (right) allegedly seditious remarks, were “legitimate comments” which the lecturer "should be free to give on any issues rightly within his field of expertise".  

The charge not only breaches the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech, they said, but also presents a "serious violation" of the 1997 Unesco Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel.

Calling for greater academic freedom, they said Azmi has a "duty to use his expertise to enlighten the public on current issues related to his field."

"He or any other academic must have the freedom to do so," they said, urging also for the repeal of the Sedition Act and protection of fundamental liberties in Malaysia.

Students must speak out

Meanwhile, UM students' association deputy president Haw Yu Hong urged all students to speak out against attacks on academic freedom.

"Everything is dark now, the only hope lies in university students," he said in a statement.

Haw said the incident, which came not too long after UM Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel) chief Redzuan Othman (left) was allegedly made to vacate the spot due to political interference, showed that silence is no longer an option.

"We have been taught by the university to obey fully but the university is in the grips of the government.

"Now that the government has done something wrong, every student should stand up and voice out against it," he said.

He also questioned how the UM academic’s remarks on the Perak constitutional crisis could be deemed harmful.

"Who is causing harm on Malaysia now? A law professor that expressed his point of view, or the government that has dictatorship and greed over everything?" he asked.

Azmi was yesterday charged with regard to an article titled "Take Perak crisis route for speedy end to Selangor impasse, Pakatan told" in the Malay Mail Online.


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