Statement from PRM Youth on the police raid on Malaysiakini
We deplore the manner in which the police raided the Malaysiakini office on Jan 20 and confiscated the Internet news website’s editorial computers and servers. The raid was carried out by about a dozen police officers including from Bukit Aman, following a report lodged by Umno Youth on Jan 17 on the alleged seditious nature of a letter that was published on the news website. PRM Youth believe that the action is an act of intimidation on the news website because:
1. There is no basis for taking away Malaysiakini’s equipment. In this IT age, the police should know that it does not need to cart away any equipment in order to get a copy of the alleged seditious letter.
2. The Malaysiakini management’s offer to facilitate police investigation was refused. Although only one computer was involved in receiving letters from the public -- and the police were made aware of this -- the police confiscated all 19 computers.
3. It is good journalism practice to maintain the confidentiality of letter writers should they request so. This is an ethical code that is followed by the media everywhere around the world, be they Internet-based or not.
4. The police raid happened regardless of the statement on Jan 18 by the Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung that his ministry has no jurisdiction over articles or letters published on the Internet. He said that those wishing to run news portals on the Internet were not required to get a license from the Home Ministry.
PRM Youth can only surmise that this raid, at a very fundamental level, is an attack on the freedom of expression in this country. It is purely to intimidate the public from expressing their opinions on issues that are relevant to our lives and is an act of censure against the news organization that has the courage to provide a forum for such views.
Malaysiakini is a news portal that has given space for a diversity of voices in regard to events that happen in this country. By seizing Malaysiakini’s equipment, it would make it difficult for the news website to function online, thus further restricting the democratic space that the Media has in Malaysia. In doing so, it has the chilling effect of silencing what little voice people have to give their alternative viewpoints.
PRM Youth also finds it strange that it took the complainants 10 days after the said letter was published to lodge a police report. We question the timing of the police report and the police raid, given the talk about the impending general elections, which indicates the unwillingness of the ruling party to allow any dissenting voice, especially from the Opposition.
We can only conclude that this is just another dirty tactic by the ruling parties – using their Youth wings – to bully those who question their actions and policies. We urge all Youth wings of political parties to use their faculties and avoid being used as mouthpieces of those who are really in power.
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