'Withdraw Sedition Act charges and apologise'

Show sincerity in repealing the archaic Sedition Act 1948 by withdrawing the charges filed against opposition leaders under this law. This was DAP's call to the government today.

This must be done to prove that the new law to take its place, National Harmony Act, will "not be another thinly disguised draconian law", DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said.

Lim urged the government to drop charges against DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh and other political leaders, as well as to issue an apology.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced last night that the government has decided to abolish the pre-independence sedition law.

"DAP welcomes the repeal of this draconian and antiquated piece of legislation that has been, for over half a century, used and abused to suppress legitimate political opposition.

"However, we also urge the government to ensure that its replacement, the National Harmony Act, will not end up like the newly-introduced Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) which has turned out to be nothing but a sham," said Lim, who is also Penang chief minister and Bagan MP.

Referring to the hurriedly-enacted legislation curbing mass public gatherings, Lim said the PAA has introduced a multitude of arbitrary requirements.

"It is even more difficult for people to assemble, and incredibly even outlaws street protests.

" Worse, the (PAA) has now been used to selectively prosecute opposition leaders, including (Opposition Leader) Anwar Ibrahim over the Bersih 3.0 protest in Dataran Merdeka earlier this year," said Lim.

Lim related his own imprisonment for 18 months under the Sedition Act in 1998 for his defence of a minor who was detained despite being a rape victim - for which he was accused of causing public disaffection as well.

"These charges were filed against me even though there had been no demonstration against me for defending the underaged rape victim.

"This is because no one in their right mind would make such a demonstration against someone who was defending the victim instead of the rapist. And yet I ended up charged under the Sedition Act," he said.

Reiterating that the Sedition Act has been abused as a "political tool" quell dissent, Lim called on Najib to show commitment to "reform" by dropping legal actions against those charged under the Act.