The Malaysian Sedition Act was adopted by the British colonial government in 1948. It is used to deal with the threats precipitated by the ‘communist insurgency’. When Malaysia gained its independence on August 31st, l957 the Sedition Act continued as a Malaysian statute by the operation of Article 162(1) of the Federal Constitution (the Constitution).
The Sedition Act 1948 is a restraining law. It tells people what to do and what not to do. It is an archaic British law which introduced to Malaya in 1948 and amended shortly after the year 1969 riots. The founding fathers of the nation did not legistate it. It was actually imported directly to become our law and was retained after Merdeka. The last prosecution for sedition in the United Kingdom was in 1972. In the UK, sedition as an offence was effectively abolished in 2010. The Act has a very wide definition of ‘sedition’ and places many limitations on freedom of expression, particularly regarding to the sensitive political issues. This legal uncertainty very much favours to the prosecutor. It means that the seditious is not just a legal but also a political issue.The Sedition Act was then amended to prohibit as a ‘seditious tendency’ in 1970.
The Sedition Act 1948 applies to any act, speech, words or publications. And there are five important terms that can be interpreted in the Act, such as, the Government, the Publication, the Ruler, the Seditious and the words. Under “Government” means the Government of Malaysia and of any State in Malaysia; under “Publication”, the Act interprets it as anything written or printed which containing any visible representation or by its form, shape or in any other manner capable of suggesting words or ideas, and every copy and reproduc...
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...hat the Attorney General had used a double standard in a statutory rape case involving a 15 year old female constituent. He had questioned the fact that the victim was placed in a detention home for a period of three years while one of the alleged perpetrators, the Chief Minister of Melaka was not charged. In l994 corruption charges had been brought against the Chief Minister following a number of reports by Lim Guan Eng. As a result of his conviction, he is barred from sitting as a Member of Parliament for 5 years from the date of his release.
3. In September l998, Dr. Wan Azizah, wife of Anwar Ibrahim, was arrested under the Sedition Act for expressing concern for her husband’s well being in police custody. She was arrested for expressing this concern after Anwar Ibrahim had been severely beaten by the Chief of Police, but before Wan Azizah knew of the beating.
In 1798, the Alien and Sedition Acts were created under President John Adams due to tensions with France. The Sedition Act made it illegal for anyone to publish anything that could defame or speak badly of the United States government. The Alien and Sedition Acts were repealed after President Adams’ presidential term was over. The Espionage and Sedition Acts, created from 1914 through 1921, made it illegal to cause disloyalty in the military forces and also prohibited any opposition to the government and their decisions in war. These acts were declared unconstitutional. Both were repealed after conflicts died down. The U.S. Patriot Act, created to investigate and protect against terrorism, made it legal for the United States’ government to search the records of citizens without their
The Alien and Sedition Acts were not merely intended for immigrants who spoke out against the government but more to detain the growth of the Democratic - Republican Party. These four Acts coercively lessoned the likelihood of the party mounting power by eliminating its majority group; soon to be citizens. Many issues led up to the creation of the Acts. This Cause and Effect can be traced all the way back to George Washington's Presidency; a few years after the creation of the Constitutional government after the Articles of Confederation were expulsed.
In the story “In Camera, Saadawi illustrated how women were treated by the legal system in Arabic country when they did something against the system. The protagonist, Leila Al-Fargani, who was a young woman on trial for calling the “mighty one”, which is a respective title for the President of their country, a stupid man. Moreover, during the time she was waiting for the court date, she was brutally beaten and raped by ten men who seem to be the guards. At the time she was in the court, she was still suffering from the pain both in physical and mental way, but she did not collapse. When the time the judge and those with him declared that ten men raped Leila and also her father’s honor got trampled. (This is the way we torture you women- by depriving you of the most valuable thing you possess”). For the response she said: “You fool! The most valuable thing I possess is not between my legs. You are all stupid. And the most stupid among you is the one who leads you.” In one hand, this quote completely showed that the man thought this sexual violence was totally right when the woman had committed a crime. In anther hand, it also showed that in the very deep of Leila, the...
The General Court. "General Laws." : CHAPTER 265, Section 37. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. .
During World War I, congress would authorize two controversial pieces of legislation: the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition act of 1918. The Espionage Act was ratified in order to “suppress the spread of alleged disloyalty and to maintain the public image of remarkable national unity behind the war effort” (James and Wells, 71). The act inhibited the freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and some of which seems the antithesis of the First Amendment of the Constitution. Most of the Espionage Act would be in effect only during times of war, but two of the provisions stayed in effect during times of peace.
The first few decades in the wake of its creation, the United States was a disaster of powerful men who did not not know how much it takes to properly govern a country. Many of the common folk who did not have a voice in their government let themselves be heard through newspapers and brochures, criticizing the union for its incompetence regarding the country’s land, money, and now dissolved Continental Army. To neutralize the resentful citizens, laws were passed not to settle the disputes, but to relinquish the citizens’ rights to free speech and press by enacting the Alien and Sedition Acts. “The U.S. Sedition Act first outlawed conspiracies ‘to oppose any measure or measures of the government.’ Going further, the act made it illegal for anyone to express ‘any false, scandalous and malicious writing’ against Congress or the president.” (“The Alien and Sedition Acts: Defining American Freedom”) Many journalists were tried and arrested for writing slander and libel about the government and President John Adams. The minor political party of the Republicans argued that the Sedition Acts were unconstitutional and violated the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, and thus should be repealed. Federalists disagreed and stated that by writing it papers and documents, it gives the government power to punish the offenders for vengeful defamation. The Alien acts did
It has been said that we are living in a democratic country where we are free to do as we wish but there are certain things that you can arrested for if you do, like speaking against the PM or walking naked in the streets. Even if they say that we are free, we are still somewhat in bondage by social order. In this case the court acts as the “Me” and the individual as the “I.” The “Me” is the one responsible to keep the “I” in
The author provides many facts that support his argument and makes sure to explain how other solutions would not work to solve this problem effectively. The article provides a plethora of facts discussing how the use of censorship is not the way to go due to its negative connotation and how the law cannot do anything, because technically nothing wrong is really happening the law viewpoint. The author finally concluded his essay by discussing how the solution he proposed maybe the best one they can use at the moment and how the solution has been used and been proven successful. The weaknesses of the essay include lack of information regarding the Supreme Court readings and the fact that he did not cite any sources to show ethos, but he himself was the president of Harvard University so that might have been
Censorship is practiced by many people before the written word even reaches the eyes of the public. Once a book or newspaper article reaches the public it can also be censored by government agencies or the public itself. Censorship can also be beneficial to society at times. The clear and present danger clause makes it so that free speech can be limited if it causes danger to others.
Deen, Thalif. "Adultery Laws Unfairly Target Woman, U.N.Says." 9, 2014 . Inter Press Service Document. 10 April 2014
In 1798, when Congress passed both the Alien and Sedition Acts, it was very much constitutional. These acts were definitely in the best interest of America. America was a significantly young nation, at the time, and could not afford to create problems caused by foreigners coming to America. They did not have enough national power to sustain order if everyone was attacking the newly created laws, and many of those rebels being citizens from foreign countries, nevertheless.
Censorship is defined as the act or practice of removing obscene, vulgar, and highly objectionable material from things we encounter every day. Whether it is on TV, in music, books, or on the Internet censorship is an inescapable part of our lives. Free expression is one of the basic roots that are country is based on, although this right is constantly challenged and contested. The Communications Decency Act was passed by congress on February 1st 1996. This act sent shockwaves throughout the Internet community.
The last of the laws, the Sedition Act, declared that any treasonable activity, including the publication of "any false, scandalous and malicious writing," was a high misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment. The public was outraged and felt that this was a violation of their rights and that the government was becoming too overbearing.
Where blasphemous, immoral, treasonable, schismatical, seditious, or scandalous libels are punished by English law�the liberty of the press, properly understood, is by no means infringed or violated. The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state; but this consists in laying...
Censorship as defined by Wikipedia is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by a government, media outlet or other controlling body. This context in itself is not acceptable as we have no rights to limit a person’s freedom of speech as that is the basic right we have as humans. However, censorship is a step taken by relevant authorities in order to maintain national security and stability, limit actions that may insight disregard for the law be it violence or causing harm to others and prevent the corruption of children. The first point that is going to be pointed out in this essay is regarding national security and stability. It is a common practice by governments aro...