What's the difference between sedition and treason?

Sedition


Definition:

  • (n.) The raising of commotion in a state, not amounting to insurrection; conduct tending to treason, but without an overt act; excitement of discontent against the government, or of resistance to lawful authority.
  • (n.) Dissension; division; schism.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Many colonial laws, including draconian statutes against " sedition " and "offending religious sensibilities" remained on the books.
  • (2) Or that he twice went to jail for incitement and sedition, telling the court, "I come here not as the accused but as the accuser of capitalism dripping with blood from head to foot."
  • (3) Joey's slap in the face to his parents is certainly transgressive, "a stunning act of sedition and a dagger to Patty's heart".
  • (4) He should talk about freedom, the suspension of the newspapers and the use of the sedition law – something that is so repressive – and the welfare of the former opposition leader [Anwar].” Liew Chin Tong, a lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Action party, said Cameron must tell Najib categorically to “respect the rule of law as well as human rights”.
  • (5) However, asked if Mr Berezovsky could be prosecuted for promoting sedition against a foreign government on British soil, Mr Murphy warned that the Crown Prosecution Service would "continue to assess comments, or alleged comments...and if they are above the threshold for a prosecution, they would do so".
  • (6) Mr Hariri condemned the speech as "an incitement for sedition in Lebanon".
  • (7) Malaysia’s federal court has dismissed a challenge that a sedition law implemented under the British empire is unconstitutional, prolonging the government’s ability to quell political opposition.
  • (8) According to the journalist, the term "leaders of sedition" which was initially used by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to denounce the opposition leaders, was allowed to be published in reference to the names of the leaders instead of directly mentioning them.
  • (9) By Aseem Trivedi, from cartoonsagainstcorruption.blogspot.co.uk India's sedition laws date back to the Raj, and were used for imprisoning Mahatma Gandhi, along with other freedom fighters.
  • (10) Fourteen activists were charged with sedition for criticising the NCPO in June.
  • (11) Lim urged Najib to withdraw current sedition charges against opposition leaders to prove his move was genuine.
  • (12) It’s a fate that also befell Leslie Chew last year, who was arrested and charged with “sedition” over the content of his cartoon strip, called Demon-cratic Singapore .
  • (13) The rampant and indiscriminate use of the Sedition Act ... functions as a catch-all provision to target all and sundry for anything that is remotely contentious, thus stifling democratic norms and creating a climate of fear,” he said.
  • (14) The government insists this egregious snooping is necessary to ensure that trade unions are not using their resources for sedition.
  • (15) Political dissidence was legally repressed through various acts, including a sedition law far more rigorous than its British equivalent.
  • (16) India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, called sedition laws "objectionable and obnoxious".
  • (17) It said: “The government increasingly targeted regime critics and those challenging conservative societal norms in 2014 … Malaysia’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community faces discrimination and hostility from both state and nonstate actors.” Activists who speak out against the governing party (which has been in power since 1957) are targeted by the authorities under the Sedition Act .
  • (18) Police in Bangladesh have also arrested the acting editor of Amar Desh, a pro-opposition newspaper, on several charges, including sedition.
  • (19) Over 150 civilians are facing military tribunal, 62 are being charged with lese-majesty offences, 38 charged with sedition and 85 prosecuted for violating the junta’s ban on political gathering of five or more persons.
  • (20) "The Syrian regime is exploiting the blood of Qana and Gaza and Baghdad to bring sedition to Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq so that the [Syrian presidential] palace now deserves to be called the palace of exploiters," he said.

Treason


Definition:

  • (n.) The offense of attempting to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance, or of betraying the state into the hands of a foreign power; disloyalty; treachery.
  • (n.) Loosely, the betrayal of any trust or confidence; treachery; perfidy.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) His reports alleged active, sustained and covert collusion to subvert the election which, if confirmed, could constitute treason.
  • (2) It will be payback time, after Mutharika and five other ministers were arrested and charged with treason for trying to block her ascent.
  • (3) Instead of dealing with a political problem, China has sought confrontation and control – threatening new national security laws that outlaw treason .
  • (4) The protester was later identified as the Rev Paul Williamson, who once tried to charge an earlier archbishop of Canterbury with high treason for ordaining female priests.
  • (5) December 5, 2013 10.21pm GMT Mandela was arrested in 1956 for "high treason" against the state, in a case that concluded without conviction.
  • (6) Arrested last year on suspicion of spying for arch-enemy Armenia, the couple also face treason charges in a separate case.
  • (7) But a Conservative MP who recently wrote to the Metropolitan police to call for a criminal investigation into the Guardian, accused the newspaper of potential treason.
  • (8) In addition to tax evasion and illegal business activities, she has also been charged with treason, for allegedly spying for Armenia.
  • (9) In a statement to a Senate judiciary committee he accused the British actor of coming “perilously near to treason” against the United States.
  • (10) On Monday the Sunni Ittehad Council, an umbrella group representing followers of the moderate Barelvi school of Islam , demanded Hassan be tried for treason.
  • (11) Pakistan's official commission investigating Bin Laden's presence in the country last year recommended that Afridi be tried for treason.
  • (12) Musharraf was dramatically diverted to a military hospital on 2 January after feeling a "heaviness" in his chest while he was driving to his treason trial.
  • (13) Everyone who happens to threaten or is perceived to be threatening his position is accused of committing a treasonous act, even if he doesn’t prove it.
  • (14) But pro-European presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko, known as the "chocolate king," who currently leads in the polls, said on Thursday that any delay of the elections would be "treason" and would not happen no matter the circumstances.
  • (15) On Sunday, appearing on the CBS talk show Face the Nation, former air force general and NSA and CIA chief Michael Hayden called Snowden a traitor and accused him of treason.
  • (16) Most were men and most had been convicted of murder, although Thomas and Albert also executed some prisoners who had been convicted of treason.
  • (17) But if that has turned not out to be true – if it is less and less accepted in rightward-drifting Israeli society that there can be such a thing as non-political information, and B’Tselem’s traditional activities are dismissed as treason – what point is there in trying any more?
  • (18) It is believed that Dokuchayev and Mikhailov face treason charges, which carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
  • (19) Whenever we had a special campaign or an important political case - for example, the treason trial - we received financial assistance from sympathetic individuals and organisations in the western countries.
  • (20) "Generals like those in charge of Ilovaysk should be imprisoned for treason," said Skillt.