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It is disturbing to read that some students who had taken part in the recent Gempur Rasuah 2.0 rally last Saturday are being investigated under a variety of charges and particularly the sedition act according to an article published by Bernama.
The rally took place as the students were unsatisfied with a variety of unresolved political issues such as unresolved corruption scandals according to an article by The Star.
At the end of the rally, the students had set a caricature of current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ablaze which was stated by the students was to send a strong message to the Prime Minister’s unity government according to a report by the CNA.
This has led to a wave of backlash, particularly from components of the unity government and to the police investigating the students under the sedition act according to a Free Malaysia Today article.
There can be much said of the methods the students had used and whether it was an effective method of conveying the message. Regardless, the one aspect that needs to be protected is the students' rights and freedom to express their views without the fear of the law hovering above them.
This was supported by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim who said the investigation against the students from the university and law enforcement should be dropped as dissent is an integral part of a democracy according to a Malay Mail article.
Additionally, this case highlights the ever growing need of abolishing the sedition act as it is continued to be used to silence critics which has been called for many years.
We should allow students to openly speak of their views and encourage them to be more politically active. They are the future decision makers and need to have a safe platform to be able to speak about their future more freely.
Chan Kenn Jin (facestabber123@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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