Pro-government lobbyists supporting the draconian Sedition Act 1948 have been slammed for trying to "bully" into silence a lawyers' movement urging the law's abolition.

 

Civil movement Centre For A Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) condemned Gerakan Warganegara Mempertahankan Akta Hasutan 1948 (Movement of Citizens Defending the Sedition Act 1948) for goading its supporters and others to troll the organiser of the Abolish Sedition Act campaign.

 

Cenbet co-president Lim Chee Wee ( right ) claimed that the campaign's leader and chair of the Bar Council's national young lawyers committee Syahredzan Johan has been the main target.

 

"The tactics employed by this group so far include publishing Syahredzan’s mobile phone numbers online and asking the public to flood it with calls and text messages.

 

"They had also dragged his family member into the debate in what appears to be an attempt to bully him into silence," Lim said in a statement today.

 

Intimidation instead of dialogue

A former Bar Council president, Lim lamented that the group chose to use intimidation instead of civilised dialogue.

"We witness all too often in Malaysia that extremists resort to stigmatisation, intimidation and vilification instead of discourse based on common sense, civility and tolerance for those who disagree.

 

"This group, in engaging in such tactics instead of articulating why the Bar’s campaign is wrong as a matter of principle and policy, is merely demonstrating its inability to argue why its position is right and the Bar is wrong," he added.

 

The past few months have seen the government embarking in what many have called a crackdown on criticism and dissent using the colonial era law, among others.

 

Despite Prime Minister Najib Razak's pre-election promise in 2012 to repeal the law that Najib himself said was archaic, the present dragnet has snared a wide cross section of people, from politicians to academicians and even a Malaysiakini journalist.

 

Najib appears to be backtracking on his promise in response to comments by his critics such as his predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad, as well as pro-Umno pressure groups like Perkasa and hardliners within his own party, who want the draconian Act retained on the pretext of "maintaining harmony".

 

In retaliation to weekly arrests and probes, the Malaysian Bar at its Sept 19 annual general meeting passed a motion to organise a protest to be announced later.

 

Lim also urged the perpetrators to "cease personal attacks against him and to apologise to Syahredzan" and remove his mobile number from the public domain.

 

"In order for Malaysia to be an advanced nation and a modern democracy, there must exist dialogue and discourse in the diversity of views and positions," he said.

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