ASEAN parliamentarians condemn sentencing of Malaysian MP Tian Chua

JAKARTA, 29 September 2016 — Parliamentarians from across Southeast Asia today condemned yesterday’s sentencing of Malaysian Member of Parliament Tian Chua under the Sedition Act. ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said the decision represented a blow to free expression in Malaysia and continued a concerning trend of persecution of opposition lawmakers by ruling governments around the region.

“Tian Chua’s conviction is yet another example of the Sedition Act being used to silence government criticism and intimidate opposition voices,” said APHR Chairperson Charles Santiago, a fellow member of the Malaysian Parliament.

“The sentence is disproportionate and unwarranted, and is further evidence that the Sedition Act must be scrapped. The law’s provisions are nothing more than a smokescreen for a wider crackdown and a license for the government to persecute those who criticize it. The authorities must allow for free expression, which includes criticism of the government”

MP Tian Chua, who serves as Vice President of the opposition People’s Justice Party (PKR), was sentenced on Wednesday to three months in prison and fined 1,800 Malaysian ringgit under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act for statements made during a public forum in Kuala Lumpur in May 2013, following a hotly contested general election. The judge in the case has granted a stay of the prison sentence, pending an appeal.

“It is distressing to see persecution of elected lawmakers becoming commonplace in ASEAN,” said APHR Vice Chair Mu Sochua, a member of the Cambodian National Assembly. “Tian Chua is not the first member of parliament to face prosecution for his actions as a politician, and I’m afraid he won’t be the last. This is an unmistakable and alarming trend in the region: politicized courts cracking down on free expression and using repressive laws to stifle legitimate opposition.”

A number of opposition parliamentarians have been charged under the Sedition Act in Malaysia. Lawmakers in Cambodia have also faced arrest and imprisonment as a result of politically motivated charges designed to undermine the opposition. Meanwhile, former parliamentarians in Thailand have been arrested by that country’s military government for their political speech.