Law students at Help University College were left disappointed after Umno's legal adviser Mohd Hafarizam Harun backed out of a forum on the Sedition Act 1948 at the eleventh hour.

Hafarizam was slated to speak on why the controversial law should be maintained, while another speaker Syahredzan Johan, National Young Lawyers Committee chairperson, was supposed to provide a counter-argument.

Organiser spokesperson Adrian Lim said he received an email from Hafarizam at 6.40am this morning, which stated that the lawyer was unable to attend due to "unforseen circumstances and unavoidable work commitments".

"Yesterday, Hafarizam ( right ) had confirmed (his attendance). He even asked us to prepare equipments for a powerpoint presentation and we were looking forward to it.

"Unfortunately, he could not make it. My peers were hoping to hear contrasting views," he said.

Meanwhile, Hafarizam, when contacted by Malaysiakini , said he had to be absent from the forum to attend case management.

“I had something urgent that came this very early morning. I handle this case (myself), and that is why I can’t delegate it to my partners. This definitely has got nothing to do with the panellists or the topic, he said.

'One-sided forum'

Students said that Hafarizam's last minute withdrawal was a big blow for many forum participants.

"Without Hafarizam, the forum was one-sided," lamented law student Melissa Ashley Antonio.

Gurpreet Kaur, a participant at the event, said she was hoping to pose questions to Hafarizam.

"I was expecting him (Hafarizam) to tell us how to exercise our rights (to freedom of speech) and not be seditious," she said.

Help Youth Action Group (YAG) president Leornard Then the forum could have been a good platform for the government to explain their why the Sedition Act was necessary.

"Whatever is it, I think this forum has met its objective as it keeps the society and public informed about the Sedition Act.

"I think the Sedition Act is not something new, the question is why the government wants to enforce it," said Then.