80 Dictating the Internet: In a similar case: In August 2018, following the change in government, the Attorney-General’s Office also withdrew sedition charges against politician S. Arutchelvan which had been brought against him in November 2015, following his criticism of the Federal Court decision in Anwar Ibrahim’s case.281 Brunei Darussalam In Brunei, the Sedition Act 1948 has been misused – along with other emergency laws and the Internal Security Act 1982 – to maintain strict limitations on freedom of expression, assembly and association in the country, including on online expression.282 Brunei is a country run by an absolute monarch since 1962, when Brunei declared a state of emergency and observed its last general elections. The Sedition Act’s provisions banning “disaffection” against the Sultan are thus particularly pronounced as the Sultan holds absolute executive power in the nation.283 Section 3(1) of the Sedition Act criminalizes any “seditious intention” which “bring(s) into hatred or contempt or excite(s) disaffection against His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan or the Government of Brunei”, “raise(s) discontent or disaffection amongst the inhabitants of Brunei” or “promote(s) feelings of ill-will and hostility between different classes of the population of Brunei”. Section 4 of the Sedition Act penalizes any act done with “seditious intention” with up to two years’ imprisonment and a B$5,000 fine (approx. USD 3,697) for a first offence, and up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine for subsequent offences.284 281 Malay Mail, 15 August 2018. 282 The Human Rights Foundation Center for Law and Democracy, The Brunei Project, ‘Universal Periodic Review Submission for Brunei Darussalam: NGO Submission’, 3 October 2018, Available at: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-documents/humanrightsfoundation/ world/bw9J2ZPh20arNmRSWD2Ctw/0s96_E5ZLU2pNIW8tI7kdQ/Brunei_UPR_Submission_ Final_(1).pdf?utm_source=HRF+Master+List&utm_campaign=fd851cbc1c-EMAIL_ CAMPAIGN_2018_08_30_05_33_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2d05ae8b4ffd851cbc1c-77959975 283 Ibid; The Commonwealth, ‘Brunei Darussalam : Constitution and politics’, Available at: http:// thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/brunei-darussalam/constitution-politics 284 Sedition Act 1948 (1984 Ed.), Available at: http://www.agc.gov.bn/AGC%20Images/LOB/pdf/ Cap.24.pdf