Lawyers for Liberty has reminded the Pakatan Harapan government and the solicitor-general currently handling the duties of the attorney-general to immediately review the numerous politically-motivated cases undertaken during the BN government rule.

In a statement, its executive-director Eric Paulsen pointed out pledges in Harapan's manifesto, which had promised to repeal various "oppressive" laws, such as the Sedition Act 1948, and provisions in other laws that are deemed too wide, and outdated, and often used to target political dissidents and opponents.

"While the repeal and amendments of these laws will require time and parliamentary proceedings to take place, there is no such restriction upon the prosecution policies of the AGC (Attorney-General's Chambers), and they should be rectified as a matter of urgency to reflect the priorities of the new government.

"It will be a waste of time and public resources if the AGC continues to pursue these cases with the same politically-motivated vigour that they did under the previous administration. Worse still, it will undermine public trust in the current Harapan government and also the AGC, given the incompatibility of the promise of repealing these laws on the one hand whilst continuing to prosecute individuals under them on the other,"  Paulsen said.

Paulsen, therefore, called upon the solicitor-general to immediately commence a review of all such cases, to determine whether these were genuine or politically motivated charges.

"Pending that, the solicitor-general must direct all deputy public prosecutors to put on hold all such on-going prosecutions, and that these cases be postponed until a final decision is made on the withdrawal of charges or until the abolishment of these laws.

"Malaysia has lived under the oppression of these laws for far too long, and the election of the Harapan government marks a watershed moment in our country, ushering a new era of democratic change and reform. We fully expect the Harapan government to follow through on their promises, and for the AGC’s prosecution policies to reflect the same."