PETALING JAYA: Former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan “should try the death penalty on himself”, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday on Musa’s call for the Sedition Act to include capital punishment.

Musa had said that the Sedition Act should not be retained but instead be amended to include stiffer punishment, including the death penalty.

“Maybe he (Musa) should try it [on] himself,” said Dr Mahathir, Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister, who had been in office from 1981 to 2003.

Dr Mahathir’s comment comes amid Putrajaya’s blitz against political opponents and others who have voiced critical opinions deemed seditious under the Act’s loose definition.

Dr Mahathir himself had used the now-repealed Internal Security Act during Operasi Lalang in 1987 and 1988 to curtail political dissent.

The former prime minister had also curbed the authority of the royals with constitutional amendments in 1993 to remove their immunity from criminal prosecution.

However, Umno divisions and a group called Gerakan Warganegara Mempertahankan Akta Hasutan 1948 have called for the Sedition Act to be retained to protect the position of the Malays, Islam and the royalty.

Musa has given his support to the group which was launched on Wednesday.

Dr Mahathir was asked about the current spate of arrests and charges under the Sedition Act at a book launch he attended yesterday, but appeared reluctant to comment other than to make the quip about Musa trying the death penalty on himself. — The Malaysian Insider


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 12, 2014.