Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar says it is very dangerous for Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to accuse one of T&T's leaders Sat Maharaj of sedition.
Maharaj has been under attack after he called the late Patrick Manning a racist a week after his funeral.
Addressing supporters at the launch of United National Congress screening in Siparia yesterday, Persad-Bissesar said, "I think it is very dangerous for a PM to speak about sedition.
"It is one of the few offences in this country that is punishable by jail without bail. One is murder, one is charge for piracy on the high seas and the other is sedition."
Persad-Bissessar also said people were entitled to freedom of speech.
"In this country, constitutionally we are entitled to freedom of speech unless our freedom of speech breaches the law. Then we are free to speak and therefore the PM coming to attack Mr Sat Maharaj yesterday (Thursday) not on the reasoning he gave, not on the substance of his argument but in an attempt to create fear to talk about sedition," she added.
Calling Maharaj "a courageous fighter and a warrior," Persad-Bissessar said, "Maharaj like any other person in this country is entitled to his opinion and he has like everyone else has freedom of speech."
"The question the PM should be asking is did he speak the truth or did he lie? Did he speak the truth when he said that Caroni (1975) Limited was shut down by the Manning administration? Is that truth or not true? Did he speak the truth when a PNM supporter got a radio licence within a day whereas the Maha Sabha had to go through courts right up to the Privy Council to get lawfully a radio licence?"
Saying she will not put the label as racist, Persad-Bissessar added, "I am not going into that today because I believe in this country every creed and race must find equal place and therefore I am not going into the label of racist. What I am saying is whether the examples that Mr Maharaj gave were true?"
She also said to distort the reality of what happened in T&T must never happen.
Admitting that Manning did a great job as the prime minister, Persad-Bissessar said Rowley should not use the word sedition lightly.