The jail sentence meted out to Amanah Youth vice-chief Mohd Fakhrulrazi Mohd Mokhtar shows that the Sedition Act 1948 is still “alive and well”, says pressure group Gerakan Hapus Akta Hasutan (Ghah).

It points out that the Act, an artefact of the British colonial masters, is still being used even as “we are on the eve of celebrating 59 years of living without the shackles of colonial oppression”.

Fakhrulrazi was jailed eight months while Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman was fined RM2,000 for their actions deemed seditious.

"The eight-month jail sentence meted out to Fakhrulrazi and the RM2,000 fine imposed on Abdullah Zaik not only shows that the Sedition Act is alive and well, but that its poisonous sting is as dangerous as ever.

"Indeed, this (Abdullah Zaid) was imposed one day before the 59th Merdeka celebrations, whereas we know that the Act is an artefact of our once colonial masters," Ghah coordinator Amir Abd Hadi said in a statement yesterday.

Last Thursday, Fakhrulrazi was convicted of making a seditious speech during the Feb 21 #KitaLawan rally in front of the Sogo Shopping Complex.

Abdullah Zaik was fined yesterday for a statement deemed to be seditious that he posted on the NGO's official website in 2014.

Both cases were tried under the Sedition Act despite Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak having promised to get rid of the draconian law in 2012, along with the now repealed Internal Security Act (ISA).

The Sedition Act has instead been repeatedly used against dissidents, while elements of the ISA resurrected in various security laws newly enacted by the Najib government.

Ghah noted that the draconian law has been mentioned by the United Nations Human Rights Commission as "prohibiting the people of Malaysia from freely and openly expressing multifaceted political views and ideas".

The NGO said that while it agreed with reasonable constraints to freedom of expression in certain matters, the use of the outdated law was superfluous, regressive and shameful when “we have other laws like the Penal Code that can do the job within the proper bounds of the law”.

Ghah reiterated its call for the repeal of the Sedition Act, dropping of all charges under it and assurances that no part of the cruel legislation would reappear, dressed in new laws.