Advertisement

East Malaysians on hunger strike against making secession talk a crime

Sedition Act changes breed intolerance, legal bodies say

Five East Malaysians kicked off a hunger strike today to protest Putrajaya's plan to amend the Sedition Act 1948 to criminalise any talk of secession by Sabah or Sarawak from Malaysia.

The group, calling themselves Concerned Sarawakians, said they were against such a move as the people of Sarawak had not been consulted about and criminalising speech was unconstitutional and went against their democratic rights.

"We object the amendment to the Sedition Act because the people of Sarawak have not been consulted, our government has also not been consulted. It is against the constitution and our democratic rights on the freedom to be heard, and the freedom of speech and expression," Lina Soo, one of the the group members said at a press conference today at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur.

"When the government wants to continue the colonial law, does it mean that they want to continue colonisation?" she added.

The group led by Pujut assemblyman Fong Pau Teck said they have no deadline for their hunger strike and urge more Sarawakians to join them.

"We haven't set any deadline, but we will consult our doctor, we hope more people will join us," Fong said.

Soo said the proposed amendments to the colonial-era law were targeting Sarawak and Sabah and appeared to be "bullying" the two states.

"They say Sabah and Sarawak cannot leave Malaysia, does it mean states in the Peninsular can leave Malaysia?" said Soo, who leads a Sarawak-based civil society organisation called the Sarawak Association of Peoples' Aspiration (Sapa) which was last year declared national security threat by the Home Ministry.

Sapa, which Soo has described as a group of "housewives and civil servants", is challenging the ban in court.

The hunger strike will be held at the fountain square by Dataran Merdeka, where the group will spend the nights.

Besides Soo and Fong, another Sarawakian, Buln Ribos, and two Sabahans are also joining the fast.

The Sabahans are Elizabeth Chin from Kota Kinabalu and Teresa Enggiu from Kuala Penyu.

Soo said she hoped Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi would heed their demands, adding that the group was planning to launch a petition among federal lawmakers to support their opposition to the proposed changes to the Sedition Act.

They intend to go to the Parliament today and tomorrow.

Among their demands are that talk of secession cannot be made illegal under Malaysian law, since the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Malaysia Act 1963 do not ban the topic from being spoken of.

Soo said people had the right to question the benefits of the 1963 agreement, which created the nation of Malaysia and which held Sarawak as an "equal partner" with the federation of Malaya.

Sarawak also had to be consulted on any proposed legislation that would alter the "character" of the agreement in relation to people's rights there, Soo added.

Recently, four men were charged with sedition in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, for allegedly possessing materials urging Sabah and Sarawak to leave Malaysia.

They have pleaded not guilty and said they were merely educating others about their rights under the Sabah and Sarawak agreements on the forming of Malaysia. – March 25, 2015.