YOURSAY 'Since when did Umno become a national institution and that saying something against it tantamounts to sedition?'

Tian Chua charged with sedition

Anonymous #19098644: The attorney-general is really stupid. Umno has every right to take Batu MP Tian Chua to court for slander.

But slander against Umno is not sedition because Umno is not the country and the country is not Umno. This is clearly an abuse of the process of court.

Umno and Home Minister Hishammudddin Hussein had failed the people when they mishandled the armed attack by foreign terrorists and instead initially claimed that this band of armed pirates were neither militants or terrorists .

Now 10 Malaysians are dead and they are attempting to capitalise on Tian Chua's remarks to divert attention for their incompetence and mishandling.

Lim Chong Leong : Even if PKR vice-president Tian Chua had falsely accused Umno, it could only be criminal defamation. How did accusing Umno become seditious? Are they royalty now?

Vijay47: Sedition? Since when did Umno become a national institution that saying something against it tantamounts to sedition and an act of betrayal of the nation? Some Malaysiakini commenters say that Tian Chua deserves it as he had insulted the fallen fighters.

From what I can recall of the many articles on the Sulu attack, not a single writer has cast aspersions on Malaysia's warriors who died in defending the country, but almost everyone, including myself, had furious and savage comments to make on what passes for our leadership from the prime minister to the home minister, defence minister, the inspector-general of police, and the armed forces chief.

They seemed totally at sea and were running around like headless chickens, with Hishammuddin bravely posing for photo shoots.

These are the people who should be charged for gross dereliction of duty in the face of an enemy attack.

Tian Chua may at times shoot his mouth off but if he is wrong, then so is almost every one of the thousands who have commented in the alternative media.

Xabiso: If you have a media blackout for three weeks and take no action on the Sabah intruders, any normal Malaysian would be suspicious. If Tian Chua gets jailed for a public statement made on behalf of lost Malaysians, this is injustice.

The people of Batu voted for him to represent them, are you going to jail all of them? This is why Bersih was formed in the first place, there is no level-playing field and the ultimate losers are us - the rakyat.

Wira: Even a first-year law students will tell us that there is mala fide in the charge. Firstly, Prime Minister Najib Razak's government had already promised to repeal the Sedition Act.

Secondly, what about to all those Umno and Perkasa rascals who had uttered seditious words, including "burn the Bible"? Why haven't they been charged?

Tpn: Ibrahim Ali was investigated for sedition much earlier and yet he has not been charged to date.

But when it came to Tian Chua, the prosecution worked at full speed. The rakyat know what to do in the coming election.

SS Dhaliwal: This is clear double standards - while Ibrahim Ali can spew his hate and anti-religious statements, no action is taken despite him not denying it.

And here Tian Chua's words have been twisted by Umno daily Utusan Malaysia and he is charged. What a miscarriage of justice, again.

Mahashitla: Is Najib and the Foreign Ministry under Anifah Aman trying to divert the attention of a bungling peace process with the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which left out the Sulu sultan and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)?

Could we not have achieved a broader peace process if these smaller groups had been consulted?

Had Najib and Anifah shown skilful leadership and respect for these groups, there wouldn't be an incursion, and the question of who prompted or provoked these intruders would not arise.

The MILF leadership will be here next month and we hope Najib will get them to resolve all these explosive issues with the Sulu sultanate and reassert Sabah's position permanently, or as Najib said, is 'forever' part of Malaysia.

Ferdtan: The government is beating the drums of false nationalism - that when we question what is happening in Lahad Datu, we are being unpatriotic and not sympathetic to the security forces there.

It is sending a political message that we do not care for the deaths of the security personnel if we ask questions.

Tonsommansabi: Do not think that if more opposition leaders are jailed, the genuine Sabahans will continue to vote for Umno-BN. Instead, more will support Pakatan.

Why only target the opposition leaders? As a Christian Sabahan, I am sick of the double standards of the Umno-led BN government.

Why has no action been taken against Ibrahim Ali who made a threat to burn my Holy Bible?

What if I were to make a statement to burn the Quran (which in real fact I am against the idea of burning religious books)?

Why were the police were so hard on the innocent rakyat joining the Bersih 1.0 and Bersih 2.0 but no action was ever taken against Umno thugs?

Awangku: Charge those who issued ICs to foreigners in Sabah instead - former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad and company.

Bumiputeri: What about the someone who had said the intruders are not dangerous and everything is under control ? This is giving false information to the public, and guess what - he is a minister.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .