
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today defended the government’s appeal against a court ruling that the words “offensive” and “annoy” in the previous iteration of Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA) are unconstitutional.
Anwar said institutional reforms could not be solely based on court decisions but must be holistically studied before implementation.
“The courts provide their views and we will examine them,” he told reporters, adding that if a court ruling was aligned with the reform agenda, the government would be open to it.
“For example, when it comes to unlawful assemblies, I have a problem because the rulers have said that the freedom to assemble should not extend to palace compounds. So we have to think about that.
“Sometimes, in our eagerness to (ensure people’s) freedoms, it offends other areas,” the prime minister added.
On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal declared that the terms “offensive” and “annoy” in the previous iteration of Section 233 of the CMA were unconstitutional.
DAP backbencher Syahredzan Johan welcomed the decision and urged the attorney-general to review all ongoing cases involving the old version of Section 233.
Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil said yesterday that the government would file an appeal to the Federal Court against the Court of Appeal’s ruling.