Sedition blitz feels like Operasi Lalang 2

PETALING JAYA: The conviction of student activist Adam Adli and the slew of arrests under the Sedition Act spells a new political crackdown, says Seputeh MP Teresa Kok.

“Although there have been widespread criticisms against the recent sedition blitz to stifle freedom of expression , it is obvious that the Prime Minister Najib is not prepared to stop the blitz, which is a new political crackdown,” she said today in a press statement.

“In 1987, a total of 108 persons, including lawmakers, activists and educationists were detained under the Internal Security Act. The infamous Operasi Lalang crackdown also saw the revoking of the publishing licenses of The Star, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Watan.

“How many more people will be arrested and charged in the new crackdown, which is an obvious selective prosecution against government critics?”

Kok said the crackdown had made the Prime Minister’s 2012 promise to repeal the Sedition Act and his 2013 talk about political reconciliation sound hollow and insincere.

She said it was that the Malaysian Bar had overwhelmingly passed a resolution to organise a peaceful protest against the act.

She described the 1987 Operasi Lalang as a tragedy that stifled the healthy development of Malaysia’s democracy for many years and brought hardship to the detainees and their families and newspaper employees who were made jobless.

“Malaysians must not allow another tragedy to happen and more NGOs must speak out against the sedition blitz and let Prime Minister Najib see the public resolve that the draconian law must be abolished,”’ she said.