KUALA LUMPUR: The government has agreed to begin the process of amending a number of legislation, including the controversial Sedition Act 1948.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said this is being done to ensure that 3R (race, religion and royalty) issues are effectively managed.
He said the review would also involve the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 as well as the Penal Code.
The cabinet, he said, has given its nod to the move.
"We have agreed to review these acts. The cabinet has given its green light two weeks ago to begin this process. The Home Ministry will be holding engagements with the police and others to discuss the review of a number of sections and acts," he said during his appearance on the 'Keluar Sekejap' podcast with Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan on Sunday.
Saifuddin said the move was not geared towards tightening controls.
"This is not to tighten controls but instead, to see how the act can be invoked so that the 3R phenomenon can be managed from a legal standpoint," he said.
Saifuddin underscored the need to effectively tackle 3R issues and shared the data on related offences.
"Last year, police received 170 reports on 3R cases. Out of that, they completed investigations on 87 cases. However, only seven were charged in court," he said.
Saifuddin said the government does not want to use the Sedition Act in political issues.
"The government's stand now is that when it comes to the Sedition Act, we do not want to use it in political issues. The prime minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) himself has said that when it comes to politics, we tackle it directly and not use the Sedition Act.
"But for cases involving religion and royalty, this (Sedition Act) is all we have," he said.
Last July, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said had announced that the cabinet has agreed to review the Sedition Act so that the law would only be used against those who insult royalty.
Her announcement came after the prime minister had cautioned the opposition against criticising the Malay rulers, saying that such actions were unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Shahril raised the issue of blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, better known as Papagomo, whom in January was charged under the Sedition Act for claiming that the government was "pro-Israel and pro-Western nations".
Shahril had noted that Wan Azri was still charged under the Sedition Act despite it not being a 3R issue.
Saifuddin, in reply, described Wan Azri's case as being "too toxic" and that it shouldn't be used to make a generalisation.
"We have to look at the bigger picture and when it comes to the Home Ministry, we are all about maintaining the peace.
"In the Global Peace Index of Dec 2023, we are 19th out of 165 countries. In Asean, we are second to Singapore while in Asia, we are behind only Japan and Singapore.
"We have to uphold this peace. As such, any elements which can disrupt this need to be managed," he said.