COMMENT  Our government has tabled a slew of amendments  to the Sedition Act, denying bail in some cases, and increasing minimum and maximum jail time under the Act.

The amendment regarding bail reads: “The new Section 5A provides that where a person is charged with an offence under subsection 4(1A) and there is a certificate in writing by the public prosecutor stating that it is not in the public interest to grant bail to the person charged, the person shall not be released on bail.”

Denying bail and introducing higher minimum and maximum jail sentences heralds the return (in practice) of politically motivated detention without trial. The Internal Security Act (ISA) has all but been resurrected.

The Sedition Act is worded so vaguely that I would estimate upwards of 80 percent of what Malaysians say about their governments on Facebook could technically be considered seditious, according to the letter of the law...