Admitting to have been alarmed by the charging of a fellow academician with sedition, a Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia leader has urged against browbeating the academia.

Mohammad Agus Yusoff ( right ) also pointed out that law professor Azmi Sharom, who has been charged with sedition, is a "cool-headed" individual who writes from a position of knowledge.

Azmi's views, Agus said, "may be right and may be wrong" as this is the nature of academic study in law and politics, and he added that the law lecturer would not express it to malign anyone.

More importantly, Agus said, he is writing about Azmi not just because he is a respectable academician but because this case impinged on academic freedom.

"I am writing about Azmi for another important reason – academic freedom. I know that academic freedom has its limits, there is no absolute freedom. I know that.

"But even in academia, freedom to differ should not be curtailed. Don't spook intellectuals. They are national treasures who need to be protected.

"Be certain that a university's worth is not its beautiful buildings, but its students and lecturers’ ability to discuss, research and write in an environment that celebrates both similarities and differences," Agus added.

Azmi yesterday claimed trial for sedition over remarks he made in a news report by the Malay Mail Online on the ongoing Selangor menteri besar crisis.

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