The right to know, the right to dissent

We live in difficult and turbulent times. With the threat of terrorism being imminent, or an illusion, the free press needs to be fiercely protected against politicians who try to smother it. Governments today tend to want to protect us by wielding greater power in order to fight violence rather than to ensure society continues to grow in harmony and peaceful existence. However, we must be vigilant when it comes to freedom of the press.

Faced with totalitarian ideology of intolerance, hatred and suicidal violence, governments are pushing for specific legal provisions prohibiting the fanning of violence for political and religious ends. We have been swept away with leaders like George W. Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard, who argued in favour of invading Iraq on the basis of intelligence that turned out to be wrong.

Recently, in Australia the government re-activated and strengthened sedition laws in a package of anti-terror measures that has been hurriedly passed by Federal Parliament as we were told we are in imminent danger of being targeted by terrorists.

There are concerns but we must never allow our democratically elected governments to become a secret society. Anti-terrorism laws allowing the police to act in controversial and sensitive situations without the fear of a free media scrutiny are counter-productive.

In simple language, if the new laws do not threaten free speech why bother changing the law at all? Journalists must always be allowed to report the news, regardless of whether powerful people find the truth uncomfortable to bear.

Sedition laws, with their bad reputation, should be put in the dustbins of history. They were originally designed centuries ago to protect against political agitators stirring up the masses in a riot or rebellion against the royals.

Is there any need for them at all? This development introduced democratic Australia to the group of countries with active sedition laws: China, Cuba, North Korea, Singapore, Syria and Zimbabwe. Yes indeed, sedition is a dirty word to believers of free speech and the mere fact of having an active law in place poses a threat to open political discussion.

History reminds us that many prophets, preachers and political heroes like Jesus, St Paul, Gandhi and Mandela, to mention a few, have been charged with "sedition". The word itself is laden with connotations of heavy-handed governments silencing dissent.

Civil libertarians, media organisations and many community leaders called for the sedition section of the anti-terror Bill to be scrapped. The government assured us that we have nothing to worry about so long as we report "in good faith". But who will judge this, the politicians themselves? It easy to see how such a law can be misused by people in power with everything to lose.

In such difficult times, governments tend to follow each other in revising laws and regulations.

Therefore, even the Maltese people need to be the guardians of our hard-won freedom of expression, the right to know and the right to dissent. An informed citizen is the only defence.