"In fact, they were all justifying the use of the Sedition Act and now we pay the same price again.”

- Former Malaysian Bar president K Ragunath.

COMMENT | When I see all these activists chanting “Free Fahmi” and “Political satire is not a crime”, all I can do is shrug. Well, yeah kids, it is a crime here in Malaysia and you know that when Pakatan Harapan had a chance to ditch such laws, they chose not to.

It is convenient to blame the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government for problems this country faces, but when Harapan promised solutions to these problems, they never delivered. As always, blame-shifting and deflection will define how Harapan handles issues like these.

It is pointless laying the blame on PN because, ultimately, it was Harapan’s responsibility to repeal these laws because, for the Malay uber alles government, sedition laws were always tools in their box of dirty tricks.

Not only did Harapan throw free speech advocates under the bus, never mind the citizens of Malaysia, who think that such issues are important, they were toying with the idea of ditching the sedition law, but replacing it with another. One form of repression for another. Is this the best Harapan has to offer?

When Ronnie Liu was hauled up by the then Harapan state under sedition laws for posting pictures of Thais protesting against the Thai monarchy, you have to wonder...