AG Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh at the Opening of the Legal Year 2024 at Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Putrajaya January 15, 2024. – Malay Mail photo
PUTRAJAYA (Jan 15): Attorney General (AG) Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh today pledged to fully prosecute those misusing and manipulating race, religion, and royalty — the so-called “3R” issues — including applying the Sedition Act against them if warranted.
Ahmad Terrirudin used his maiden speech at the Opening of the Legal Year 2024 here today to caution would-be offenders about his commitment in clamping down on such offences.
“We are very much well aware of the dangers of misusing and manipulating 3R issues, which have the tendency to disrupt and endanger the peaceful lives of people and national security.
“Hence, I will not hesitate to bring any offenders before the face of justice and to take stern actions, subject to evidence of course, to maintain peace and order in this country including invoking the Sedition Act and other written laws if necessary,” he said.
Rights activists have long challenged the use of the colonial-era Sedition Act by the government to silence critical views or political dissents for being vague and too sweeping.
Last July, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government would avoid using the Sedition Act 1948 except for situations when it involves the Rulers’ position.
The same month, minister in charge of law and institutional reform Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the government intended to review the relevance of several laws — including the Sedition Act 1948 — that can be used to deal with “3R” issues to ensure that they keep up with current developments, as some of these laws were enacted seven decades ago. – Malay Mail