Student activist found guilty of sedition in Malaysia

The guilty verdict against Safwan Anang, 24, follows a recent wave of charges under the Sedition Act, including three opposition legislators in the past two weeks and a respected university lecturer on Tuesday.

Rights group Amnesty International has called on the Southeast Asian nation to end its "alarming use" of the law, which Prime Minister Najib Razak had pledged to repeal in 2012.

A Kuala Lumpur district court sentenced Safwan to 10 months in jail, his group Student Solidarity Malaysia said in a tweet. The court allowed him to remain free pending appeal.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail.

Safwan was found guilty of sedition for a speech he made that allegedly encouraged people to topple the government after divisive polls in May last year.

Najib’s coalition, which has ruled the country since independence in 1957, lost the popular vote for the first time in a general election last year but managed to retain control of parliament through what critics described as gerrymandering.

AFP

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