In addition to the recently announced amendments to the Sedition Act 1948, inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said the law should also be amended to make prosecution easier.

“I welcome the retaining of the Sedition Act since the freedom to speak, to write, and others have been abused. So this law is a very suitable law to tackle the problem.

“We would also like to ask that parts (of the act) are strengthened, including in terms of making it easier to prosecute those responsible for offences under the act,” Utusan Malaysia quoted him as saying today.

His statement follows Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s announcement yesterday that the Sedition Act would be retained, with addition provisions to safeguard religions from insult, and to criminalise urgings for the secession of Sabah and Sarawak from Malaysia.

The announcement reverses repeated pledges by the prime minister since 2012 to repeal the archaic law and to replace it a law that is to be known as the National Harmony Act.

Following the announcement, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had told reporters yesterday he is unsure whether the new law is still needed.

“This is because the Sedition Act is preserved to maintain harmony, too. So the question now is whether a new law like the National Harmony Act is still needed and so on.

“That should be studied and looked into by the government,” he said.

'A complement not a rival'

However, Umno legal adviser Hafarizam Harun (right) argued that the National Harmony Act is still necessary and is the ‘perfect complement’ the Sedition Act, instead of being a ‘rival’.

“It is created to reduce the gap between races... The Sedition Act can be used to curtain the spread of seditious speech, whereas the National Harmony Act can instil harmony so that (society) is more inclusive and united,” he told Berita Harian in an interview, which was published today.

He explained that those who “question harmony” can be referred to a tribunal set up under the National Harmony Act, whereas those who question the position of Islam and other offences can be charged under the Sedition Act.

To a question, Hafarizam said the penalties under the Sedition Act should not be stiffened, but instead should be backed by rehabilitation programmes.

“We should not see the Sedition Act only as a punitive law, because the goal of criminal prosecution is not to punish but to rehabilitate,” he said.

The law current caries a penalty of a fine up to RM5,000, an imprisonment of up to three years, or both, for the first offence. For subsequent offences, the maximum prison term is increased up to five years.


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