Nancy Shukri continues to court brickbats for defending Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali's threat to torch copies of the Bible with the term "Allah".

The latest to take the minister to task is former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan.

She said Nancy, who oversees the law portfolio, had failed to demand the strictest adherence to the rule of law and high standards of prosecution.

Ambiga said the minister's justification for not taking action against Ibrahim ( right ) despite calls to haul him to court under the Sedition Act reeked of incredulity.

"Firstly, the minister misses the point about selective prosecution and instead suggested a justification for his (Ibrahim's) words.

"And secondly the minister attributed an intention which is irrelevant in sedition law in this country," she told Malaysiakini .

Ambiga said by claiming that Ibrahim was merely defending Islam, the minister had placed herself in an embarrassing spot of having to defend the indefensible.

"It would have been far more honourable if she had just declined to be used in this way.

 

"In fact, the minister should stand with the Malaysian Bar in rejecting the Sedition Act.

"However if it is to be used, there cannot be selective prosecution," she added.

Ambiga ( left ), who is also the former chairperson of Bersih and current patron of the NGO NegaraKu, said as it stands now, Nancy appears as being "incredibly partisan".

Prior to this, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and former Umno minister Saifuddin Abdullah also criticised the minister.

Despite the government and the police denying that the Sedition Act dragnet is being used selectively, Nancy's remarks, noted detractors, lent credence to their accusation.

Perkasa's 'legal immunity'

Calls to charge Ibrahim under the Sedition Act has been making the rounds for years due to his periodical incendiary remarks, which include raising the spectre of the May 13 racial riots.

The opposition often claim that Perkasa, whose patron is former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and its president have legal immunity due to their ties with Umno.

Some have even gone to the extent of suggesting that Umno, which intended to portray a moderate image under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, had "contracted" Perkasa to churn out extremist views on its behalf.

Though Umno leaders distance themselves from Perkasa's views, Putrajaya, however, had admitted to providing "some allocation" to the right-wing movement.

In the last general election, Najib made the shocking move, which even ruffled the feathers of BN component party MIC, of naming then Perkasa vice-president Zulkifli Noordin as the ruling coalition's candidate for the Shah Alam parliamentary seat.

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No double standards? We're no fools, Nancy