The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) today insisted the slew of sedition charges against opposition leaders was a court matter and the government has nothing to do with it.

"Any charges under the Sedition Act are a matter for the courts. Malaysia’s judiciary is independent, as the verdicts of many cases prove," the PMO said in a statement today.

The PMO appeared to be responding to growing criticism that Putrajaya was sliding back to its authoritarian ways after at least four opposition leaders were charged under the Sedition Act 1948 in the past week, and several more currently being probed under the same law.

However, the PMO was insistent that despite the charging spree, the colonial era Sedition Act will still be replaced by the National Harmony Bill.

"The government welcomes feedback from all sections of society, and hopes to present the draft Bill to Parliament by the end of next year.

"Until new legislation is in place, existing cases must be tried under existing laws," it said.

The PMO said the drafting of the replacement Bill was taking time as it is being carried out in consultation with civil society and the public.

It acknowledged the recommendations of the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) for the Bill which has been subjected to fierce criticism from right wing groups, and said the matter was being studied.

"Like other countries, we are working to find the right balance between freedom of speech and national harmony in the age of the online media," he said.

One probe after another

Yesterday, police  quizzed Johor PKR vice chairperson Hassan Karim under the Sedition Act for criticising the Selangor sultan's handling of the state's constitutional crisis.

On Thursday, PKR's Padang Serai MP N Surendran was  charged  with sedition for the second time in nine days for claiming the existence of a political conspiracy to jail the party's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The previous day DAP's Seri Delima state assemblyperson RSN Rayer was slapped   with two sedition charges for calling Umno leaders "celaka" (damned).

On Aug 26, PAS' Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad was charged  with sedition for wanting the  removal of theSelangor Islamic Religious Council's executive powers.

Several other opposition leaders have also been either charged or convicted of sedition this year, including Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, Batu MP Tian Chua and the late Karpal Singh and former Bukit Gelugor MP.

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang was also questioned  by police on Aug 4 for his remarks surrounding the mysterious death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock.

Other archaic provisions in the Penal Code have also been invoked in recent weeks to charge opposition leaders for their comments.

This includes former Perak menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin who was on Aug 25 charged with committing criminal defamation against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli was on Aug 28  charged  with committing "insult with the intent to provoke breach ofthe peace" by linking Umno leaders to a molotov cocktail attack on a Church.

The dragnet for opposition leaders coincided with pressure  from Umno Youth against Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail demanding that he resign if he refuses to come down hard on them.

Commenting on the rash of probes, Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng said since the prime minister had announced his intention to repeal the Sedition Act, then the government should not continue to use it.

"A law that is pending repeal should not be used anymore by the government," said Yap last week.