The Leader of the Opposition of the Parliament of Malaysia as well as the head of Parti Keadilan Rakyat Anwar Ibrahim has now become the latest individual who will apparently face charges under the Sedition Act.
The police are expected to record his statement this Friday over a speech he made at a 2011 event in Gombak.
Prime Minister Najib Razak, as usual, remains silent over the issue despite previously promising to abolish the Sedition Act as part of his transformation of the country’s policies. His image consultants have also been adroitly working to portray him as a Muslim leader who promotes democracy and moderation although the reality on the ground is far from different.
The question is this: after opposition leaders, NGO activists, independent preachers, academics and students—who else will fall victim to this draconian Act?
As the prominent Muslim intellectual Tariq Ramadan once wrote, “Man is certainly free, but he is responsible for this freedom before God as before men. This responsibility is inevitably moral. In order of this morality, to be free is to protect the freedom of others and their dignities.”
Najib and his Cabinet are failing in this responsibility by remaining silent in this matter.
