The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in condemning the legislative amendment to the Sedition Act, has called on the government to stop using the law to threaten and persecute independent journalists.

The government should repeal the "outrageously punitive" amendments to the Act and should instead refocus on passing laws that guarantee freedom of the press, including the online media, the independent, non-profit organisation that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide said.

"The strengthening of Malaysia's already draconian Sedition Act shows how desperate Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has become to silence media criticism of his government," CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative Shawn Crispin said in a statement yesterday.

According to CPJ research, the authorities have frequently abused provisions under  the colonial-era law to threaten journalists who report critically about the government or judiciary.

Pressure on independent media increased

"In recent weeks, Prime Minister Najib's government has increased pressure on independent online media and journalists through sedition accusations, CPJ research shows."

Apart from that, Crispin said, political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, also known as Zunar ( right ), was charged with nine counts of sedition for critical tweets he posted in February about PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's court judgment.

However, it was not immediately clear whether the amendment will be applied to his trial, which is scheduled to begin on May 20.

Police have also detained three editors and two senior executives of The Malaysian Insider and The Edge on accusations of sedition in connection with a report on the proposed introduction of hudud in the state of Kelantan.

The law has also been increasingly used to threaten opposition politicians, academicians and activists.

Parliament, in the wee hours of last Friday, approved amendments to the country's sedition law, giving the government new, broad powers to censor the online media.

Barisan Nasional MPs voted to stiffen the penalties of the 1948 Sedition Act.

The penalties now include mandatory three-to seven-year jail terms upon conviction, denial of bail for accusations in the name of the public interest, and allowances for authorities to ban and block online media deemed to be seditious.