Malaysian Bar votes against Sedition Act, will hold march soon

The Malaysian Bar on Friday has overwhelmingly voted and passed a motion against the Sedition Act 1948, and to hold a peaceful march for its repeal.

"The Malaysian Bar mandates the Bar Council to immediately organise a peaceful protest in the form of a walk and to take any and all such further action as it deems appropriate or necessary in order to advance and promote the matters herein and to uphold the principles of the Malaysian Bar," said Bar Council chairman, Christopher Leong during a press conference after its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) today.

The walk was one of eight components of a motion passed by the council, aimed at protesting against the recent slew of sedition cases.

Reading out the motion, Christopher said the Malaysian Bar also called upon the Federal Government to abide by its pledge to repeal the Sedition Act 1948.

In condemning the use of the Act, the Malaysian Bar also urged the Attorney General to withdraw all pending charges, cases, appeals.

Christopher said from a total of 986 members who attended the EGM, 701 voted for the motion while 13 voted against it.

Besides the walk, other components out of the eight motions passed include; a call for the government to promote a harmonious and progressive Malaysia while rejecting all forms religious extremism; a call for the government to to uphold freedom of speech including academic and journalistic freedom; a call for the government to introduce a moratarium against the use of the Sedition Act; and a call for the government to ensure that the purposed Harmony Act is not a recast of the Sedition Act.

The Malaysian Bar held the meeting at 3pm today to debate and approve a peaceful march against the Sedition Act 1948, which has been widely used lately.

This is not the first time The Malaysia Bar held a peaceful march.

In September 2007, more than 2,000 members of the Malaysian Bar and some concerned citizens held a march from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister’s office.

The walk was held to hand over the Bar’s memorandum urging the government to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to prove the state of judiciary and memorandum on the establishment of judicial appointments and promotion commission.

“Lawyers don’t walk everyday. Not even every month. But when they walk, then something must be very wrong,” said Bar Council chairman at the time, Datuk Ambiga Sreenivasan.