The attorney-general should drop charges under the Sedition Act against law lecturer Azmi Sharom and other pending cases under the same law after its review is complete, said Bar Council president Christopher Leong.

He said this would be consistent with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s statements on several occasions as well as attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail’s own speech at the opening of the Legal Year of 2013.

“The prime minister had on several occasions stated and reiterated that the Sedition Act is no longer relevant for the times and would be repealed.

“Following on from that, the attorney-general had at the Opening of the Legal Year 2013 stated that ‘In order that every man presents his views without penalty, there must be a spirit of tolerance in the entire population...’ and that this phase of reform will see the repeal of the Sedition Act,” Leong told Malaysiakini today.

He also said that the Malaysian Bar welcomes Abdul Gani’s statement yesterday that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) would review sedition charges against Azmi and others.

Yesterday, Abdul Gani issued a statement saying that the AGC is taking consideration of the concerns raised by members of the public.

“The department stresses that the review process is normal in any prosecution process to ensure it is done with fairness, transparency and justice,” he said.

However, apart from Azmi, he did not mention whose cases are also being reviewed.

Echoing Leong’s statement, Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo said dropping charges against Azmi would be a step in the right direction.

“I hope that reason will prevail and the charges against Dr Azmi Sharom will be dropped. That would certainly be a step in the right direction and would, to my mind, augur well for the attorney-general himself as public prosecutor.

“I also urge the attorney-general to reconsider all cases in which persons have been charged under this (Sedition) Act,” he said today in a separate statement.

He added that the charges against Azmi “borders on absurdity” because the lecturer was accused of sedition for advocating greater openness and transparency in the legal aspects of the Selangor crisis.

He urged Abdul Gani to take into consideration of the impact the charges against Azmi would have on freedom of expression, especially that of academicians.

“Such a charge does little if nothing to assist in our hope to build a nation which promotes healthy discussion, in particular amongst academicians, especially in times of legal uncertainties such as that of the current matter at hand,” he said.

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