The call was based on a statement by Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo, who said it might take two to three months for the government to repeal the anti-fake news law.
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) said while it understood that repealing a law took time, measures ought to be put in place to ensure those laws were disabled.
“It’s a matter of principle,” the group’s executive director Sevan Doraisamy told FMT.
“The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government has already agreed that it is against certain laws, so in the spirit of repealing them, a moratorium should be placed.”
Sevan said there were also other laws PH had been vocal against. He claimed it had also promised to repeal the Sedition Act as well as laws which allowed for detention without trial such as the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma), the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) and the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca).
Pointing specifically at Poca, Sevan said Suaram’s own research had found that there were more than 100 young detainees under the act.
“Most of them were arrested when they were 18 or 19, and now they’re about 21. They need to be released immediately.
“If the police have enough evidence against them, then they can charge them under the Penal Code. Otherwise, just release them because these are juveniles, they are not hardcore criminals.”
He also suggested that investigations against people using laws that are to be dropped be discontinued or continued under other laws.
He said there had not been any new arrests under the Sedition Act, but there was currently one investigation under the anti-fake news law.
Gobind had said his ministry might not have time to complete the necessary paperwork by the time the Dewan Rakyat sits on June 25.
“It might take time because it is not about amending an act but repealing it. It also has to be submitted to the attorney-general first,” he told reporters on Monday.
Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen meanwhile agreed with Sevan, saying that placing a moratorium on these laws was simply a matter of sound prosecution policy.
“They’ve already agreed to repeal these laws. There’s no reason for them to continue using them.”
Anti fake news law repeal to take 2 or 3 months, says Gobind