KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — The Malaysian government should abolish the Sedition Act 1948, instead of falling down the "slippery slope” of trying to justify using the colonial-era law allegedly to safeguard the state Rulers’ dignity and position, human rights advocacy group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) said today.

LFL said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his coalition Pakatan Harapan had in the past called for the repeal of the Sedition Act, due to this law’s overly-wide wording which gives "excessive powers” to any government to decide what amounts to sedition and its effect of severely limiting freedom of speech and political freedoms.

"Anwar is now defending this law by suddenly altering his position on the use of the Sedition Act by claiming that it is acceptable to use it purportedly to safeguard the royal institution,” LFL said in a statement today, referring to Anwar’s remarks yesterday.

Yesterday, Anwar had said the use of the Sedition Act is avoided, except when it involves Rulers’ dignity and position which he said needed to be protected from becoming part of unhealthy political debates.

LFL said Anwar and PH never made such qualifications or conditions when calling for the Sedition Act’s repeal when they were part of the federal Opposition in the past, adding that it would be "dishonest” to suggest that such a distinction should now be made.

LFL cautioned that attempts to justify the use of the Sedition Act for issues related to the royalty could lead to the government trying to justify the law for other issues as well.

"It is a slippery slope to allow the Sedition Act to be used under the guise of protecting the sanctity of the royal institution as the government can extend this same type of argument to other matters, including race or religion,” LFL said, warning of the risk that it would lead to unrestricted use of the Sedition Act.

"The Sedition Act 1948 is an unjust law in principle and must be repealed. No unjust laws can be made fair, no matter which party is in government, regardless of the reasons.

"Thus, we reiterate that the government must institute a moratorium on the usage of the Sedition Act and repeal it outright in the next parliamentary session.”

Yesterday, caretaker Kedah menteri besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor was charged under the Sedition Act at the Sessions Court in Selayang. He pleaded not guilty and has been released on bail while waiting for the trial.

The two charges were in relation to Sanusi’s recent remarks linked to the Selangor Sultan as well as to Anwar’s assertion of a call for unity government by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

As part of its 15th general election manifesto dubbed the "Tawaran Harapan”, PH had expressed its commitment to protecting media freedom and advancing freespeech. It had also said it wanted to review and repeal "draconian provisions of acts that can be abused to restrict free speech” such as the Sedition Act.

The unity government is currently composed of PH, Barisan Nasional (BN) and other political parties.