PKR has lashed out at Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, accusing him of misusing the Sedition Act by lodging a police report against Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen.

NONE The Sedition Act cannot be used for statements against political parties and if applied, it would set a precedent, PKR's legal and human rights bureau head Latheefa Koya ( right ) said in a press statement today.

"The Umno Youth leader must be reminded, the basic requirement for the application of sedition law in Malaysia cannot be applied for statements against political parties, including BN.

"Khairy claims that Chong's statement would cause the people to hate BN. If this is accepted as a justification, this will mean every opposition leader criticising BN will now be guilty of sedition," Latheefa said.

The recent spate of violent crimes coinciding with calls for a new preventive detention law, she added, meant that Chong’s allegation needed to be addressed properly and should not simply be dismissed as seditious.

'A serious form of sedition'

Yesterday, Khairy lodged a police report against Chong over his accusation that the escalating crime rate in the country was deliberately being allowed by the government in order to justify the re-introduction of preventive detention laws.

Khairy said Chong's statement was, "clearly a serious form of sedition" and urged the police to take "stern and fair" action against the DAP MP.

In Kuching today, the Sarawak DAP also chided Khairy for lodging the police report against Chong.

“Khairy's move to lodge a police report is not a surprise at this hour as he is using this issue for political mileage since the Umno elections are around the corner.

NONE “I really believe he is trying to make himself a champion,” Sarawak DAP organising secretary Violet Yong ( left ) said.

Accusing  Khairy of double standards, Yong, who is Pending assemblywoman, said: “If Khairy is so concerned about Chong making a seditious statement, why didn’t he lodge police reports against obvious seditious statements made by Perkasa’s Ibrahim Ali, Zulkifli (Nordin) and other BN leaders?

“Are Khairy and BN trying to use Chong as a scapegoat to cover their own weakness for not being able to fight crime in the country?”

Since crime was the concern of everybody, what the people wanted to see from BN was how the government could bring down the crime rate and improve the efficiency, professionalism and the skills of the police.

“The people want to know how the government can bring back the confidence of the public in the police force,” Yong said, adding: “We know that the core weakness of the police at this moment is the lack of manpower and corruption within the force.

“All these make the police incapable of fighting crime.”