Sedition Act, Communications and Multimedia Act sufficient to address 3R issue

KUALA LUMPUR: The government believes that the Sedition Act and the Communications and Multimedia Act are sufficient to deal with issues related to race, religion, and royalty (3R), and that it is not necessary to enact or introduce a new law.

National Unity Minister Aaron Ago Dagang said it is enough to strengthen the enforcement of the existing laws as there are specific sections in the two existing laws that deal with legislative actions on the matter.

He stated Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588) and Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 (Act 15) as relevant to the issue.

"However, if the situation becomes urgent and the government feels that the existing laws need to be reviewed and amended to reduce the animosity between the different races and religions, then the ministry will fully support such initiatives," he said.

The minister was responding to a question from Aminolhudin Hassan (PH-Sri Gading) on whether the Sedition Act and the Communications and Multimedia Act are sufficient to solve the 3R issue.

Aaron said the previous government had introduced a Racial and Religious Hate Crimes Bill, and a National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission Bill in 2019 but were rejected.

He explained that these bills were rejected because all the offences they dealt with were already dealt with in the Criminal Code and the issues in the National Harmony and Reconciliation Bill are also listed in Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.

-- BERNAMA