Malaysia: LRWC Applauds Discontinuance of Sedition Act Prosecution of Dr. Azmi Sharom and Calls for Withdrawal of Sedition Charges against Others Wrongly Prosecuted | Press Release

February 18, 2016

LRWC Applauds Discontinuance of Sedition Act prosecution of Dr. Azmi Sharom and calls for withdrawal of sedition charges against others wrongly prosecuted.

On 12 February 2016, Malaysia’s Attorney General dropped charges of sedition against Dr. Azmi Sharom.^[1]

LRWC welcomes the discontinuance of the sedition prosecution of Dr. Sharom and calls for the immediate withdrawal of Sedition Act charges against lawyers Eric Paulsen and N. Surendran and others. The Sedition Act is being used by Malaysian authorities to silence and punish critics for being good citizens and voicing opinions about issues of public concern.

In September 2014, Dr. Sharom, a law professor at the University of Malaya, was charged under Section 4(1) (b) and Section 4(1) (c) of the Sedition Act for comments he had allegedly made at a political event five years earlier. The charges were laid after an online news outlet published Dr. Sharom’s legal analysis of a crisis in Malaysia’s Selangor.^[2] In expressing shock at this charge, Dr. Azmi stated that his comments were based on established case law and democratic principles.

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Malaysia: LRWC Applauds Discontinuance of Sedition Act Prosecution of Dr. Azmi Sharom and Calls for Withdrawal of Sedition Charges against Others Wrongly Prosecuted | Press Release

Tagged: Malaysia