UM students showing support for law lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Azmi Sharom after he was charged with sedition for his academic opinion on the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis, September 2, 2014.KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 — Angered by the sedition prosecution of their vocal law lecturer Dr Azmi Sharom, a group of University of Malaya (UM) scholars will lead a rally here next Wednesday to reclaim fully their academic freedom.
Student leader Vince Tan said the charge against Azmi over the latter’s comments on the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis, is an “attack” on institutions of higher learning, and voiced concern at the growing repression of intellectual thinking.
“We feel there is an attack on academic freedom. We have come to a level that is beyond acceptable, because academic freedom in UM and Malaysia has gone so low. (An) academician can be charged for just stating an opinion in the field of his study.
“So we are coming out with a protest together with academicians in UM, September 10, 1pm to 2pm,” the secretary-general of student rights group Progressive University of Malaya told Malay Mail Online when met at the court complex here yesterday.
The protest will be held at the university’s main bus stop, which is also the old Speaker’s Corner, the fourth-year law student said.
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