Sangeet Kaur Deo, the wing’s legal bureau chief, said if there are genuine crimes to investigate, the authorities should identify them clearly and state the conduct said to constitute those offences.
“What we are seeing instead are vague allegations of a ‘plot to overthrow the government’.
“Such sweeping calls for interrogation inevitably create an atmosphere of intimidation and raise concerns about the potential misuse of investigative powers,” she said in a statement.
She said state machinery must never be used to silence critics, adding that democracies are strengthened by responding to dissent with accountability and respect for the rule of law.
Yesterday, Bukit Aman criminal investigation department director M Kumar said the police are tracking down several key witnesses in the investigation into an alleged attempt to overthrow the government who have left Malaysia.
Police have recorded statements from 14 witnesses, including Syaza Shukri from International Islamic University Malaysia; Pushpan Murugiah, CEO of the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4); and Nizamuddin Hamid, lawyer acting for former finance minister Daim Zainuddin’s widow, Naimah Khalid.
Sangeet said any suggestion that these witnesses may be engaged in activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy, because of their work, is alarming and a dangerous distortion of the intent and purpose of Section 124B of the Penal Code.
“Section 124B was enacted to address genuine attempts to threaten or dismantle the system of government established by the Federal Constitution, not merely criticism of those in power,” she said.
She said the constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression, with conditions.
“Many of us who now sit in government once spent decades in opposition, relying on the freedom to criticise and challenge the administration of the day.
“If such conduct were to be treated as activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy, then many of us would have a lot to answer for,” she said, alluding to Pakatan Harapan leaders.
Academics’ freedom of expression must be protected
The Malaysian Academic Movement (Gerak) said it is appalled that Syaza was called up for questioning by the police over an academic opinion published on a foreign news portal in 2024.
“As academics, we always welcome alternative, even dissenting, viewpoints. We are required to engage, and often do engage, in free and open discourse, where respect for others’ opinions is paramount,” it said in a separate statement.
Gerak called for authorities to respect academic freedom of expression, saying there can be no proper development when knowledge is kept from the public or made exclusive.