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Apandi's proposal may trigger public uprising, says Perkasa
Published:  Feb 9, 2016 2:32 PM
Updated: 7:15 AM

Malay rights advocacy group Perkasa today urged attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali to cease trying to use the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972 to intimidate the public and the media from looking into allegations of corruption, as it may trigger a public uprising against what can only be seen as a cover-up attempt.

"Perkasa believes that something is wrong when the AG suddenly proposed the OSA amendments to increase punishments to include life imprisonment and 10 strokes of the rotan on those who leak state secrets including media practitioners," publicity chief Hassan Basri Muhammad said in a statement.

"In our view, the AG's efforts to amend the law are more in line with his fears on public exposure and the erosion of their trust when documents and information detailing abuses and improprieties were leaked," he said.

While Perkasa supports laws like the OSA to protect national security and punish those who leak information detrimental to national security, it does not think that this is the case now, he said.

"Are information leaks on tenders and business that breached laws, involved graft, abuses, cheating and other improprieties a threat to national security?" he asked.

Hassan said the bigger worry is the threat of a civil uprising to protest against alleged efforts to cover up corruption and abuses via the proposed amendments.

Protecting sources

He urged Apandi to be more concerned with protecting sources and information on corruption cases in order to work towards a truly clean and transparent government.

Hence, guided by principles of good governance, it will help restore the confidence of the rakyat.

Hassan also said Perkasa supports the National Union of Journalist in condemning the proposed amendment to the OSA as a cruel act and a blatant attempt to deter the public and press from working to shed light on the abuses and improprieties of certain parties.

The NGO called on the press and public to stand firm in defending transparent, honest and independent reporting, the right to fair comment without pressure, and the need to protect sources and their rights.

Perkasa is also looking to organise a roundtable discussion on the matter, with the intention of inviting Apandi himself as the main speaker.

Last week, Apandi told Sin Chew Daily that he is looking into strengthening the OSA with increased punishments , singling out sources who leak state secrets and the journalists who report on them.

His proposal was met with brickbats from journalists, the opposition and civil society who saw it as an attempt to silence dissent and cover up corruption.

In recent months, the government has strengthened several laws purportedly for use against criminals and terrorists as well as censoring the internet purportedly to preserve national harmony, though critics charged that the move is an attempt to gag legitimate democratic dissent.

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