Bersatu rep recalls Karpal sedition case in stroll down memory lane

Former PKR leader and current Bersatu assemblyperson Hilman Idham took a stroll down memory lane, during which he recalled the Sedition Act being invoked against the late DAP chairperson Karpal Singh.

“Opposition parties then, especially PKR and DAP, were vocal in pushing for the repeal of (the draconian legislation).

“They saw and felt how their leaders like Karpal, who was not on the same page with the government, had been oppressed with these laws.

“Ironically, the parties which were stifled in the past and promised a reform agenda are now using the same act against their political foes,” he said.

He was referring to Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin being charged with sedition for remarks on the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s role in appointing the prime minister after the last general election.

In 2014, Karpal was found guilty of sedition for questioning the Perak sultan’s removal of Nizar Jamaluddin as the menteri besar of Perak in 2009.

A decade later, when Pakatan Harapan came to federal power, the Federal Court posthumously acquitted him.

Hilman said he got involved in student activism sometime in 2007 and one of the main agendas was to push for the repeal of certain laws.

The Gombak Setia assemblyperson, who joined PKR in 2011, said opposition ceramah (lectures) and gatherings at that time never failed to include the call to abolish oppressive laws.

“The loudest were (PKR president) Anwar Ibrahim’s speeches which often summarised these legislation as ‘laws of the jungle’,” he added.

Hilman said he was also present at the peaceful demonstration organised by the Bar Council in 2014 to call for the dismantling of the Sedition Act.

‘Madani hypocrisy’

“Close to 10 years later, yesterday, I walked to the court in Gua Musang (where Muhyiddin was charged) to challenge the same laws,” he said.

“The Madani government headed by Harapan is not only a liar, but also possesses a high level of hypocrisy.

“It is the same government which promotes the theme ‘Jiwa Merdeka’ (Spirit of Independence) for this year’s national day celebrations.

“What is merdeka when the voices of the people are silenced? What is merdeka when all the laws that curtail the people are still used?” he asked.

On the same note, Hilman wondered what happened to the “friends” who marched alongside him in the past to press for reforms.

“Where did the idealistic and principled giants of human rights go?” he said, asking if the current government had succeeded in making them “mute and blind”.

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