Dear all,
By now you should have received the the draft "Response to the Malaysiakini
Case" that Serena and I have worked on. We hope that you will have a chance to
endorse and/or as well as make any other suggestions for revision, or comments.
We collected inputs that came in so far; from Al, Adam, and Chat (all which you
might have seen by now through the mail list) and made a effort to try to
incorporate the views sent to us. However, we did have some difficulty
deliberating how to incorporate two of Chat's and Adam's comments. Chat
suggested that we include some wording recognizing that Malaysiakini practices
objective, factual, investigative reporting. One of Adam's comments was that
though not having yet seen the actual letter that started the case, perhaps the
letter is potentially libelous and slanderous and the editors had a lapse of
sound judgment by publishing it.
Though Chat's and Adam's points don't contradict each other, we did not want to
create any opportunity for that impression to be given. We also wanted to avoid
getting tangled in discussion of the actual content itself and focus on our
objection to the repression of press freedom and censorship. Therefore we
decided to abstain from pursuing these comments from Chat and Adam.
You all might have seen by now the actual letter and the report on the Unmo
Youth reaction that Serena has found and just circulated. As you can see the
letter would stir emotions and controversy. The Unmo reply : "If they [news
websites and media organizations] fail to censor offensive materials which are
unfit for publication, the authorities should then investigate and act on
them," according to the report. In the report there is no mention that Unmo
want to pursue the matter in civil courts.
Having now both the letter and Unmo reaction please let Serena and I know if we
shall leave the statement as is or add some additional wording , eg perhaps
with Azimi's above quote and maybe this counter quote from Steve Gan:
"Malaysiakini editor Steven Gan said that the online daily's policy with regard
to the letters forum is to encourage free and open discussion on controversial
issues. 'But that does not mean we publish letters without due care. We
exercise a strict selective process in which letters that are considered
personal attacks or those which could possibly breach existing laws are left
out,' he said."
Look forward to your feedback and endorsements.
Sacha
Chiting Serena Chuang wrote:
> Dear Adam and all,
>
> For your reference.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Cheers,
> Serena
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> Umno Youth lodges report against malaysiakini
>
> YS Tong
> 12:35pm Fri Jan 17th, 2003
>
> Umno Youth today lodged a police report against popular online
> daily malaysiakini over a letter which was published on the website on Jan
> 9.
>
> The movement's information chief Azimi Daim (photo) filed the
> complaint at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters at 11.15am,
> accompanied by several Umno Youth supporters.
>
> According to the report, the letter titled 'Similarities between
> "new Americans" and bumiputera' contained seditious remarks that could
> create chaos in the country.
>
> Azimi told a press conference later that the letter, by making
> false accusations as well as questioning the Malay special rights, could
> instill hatred towards the government in non-Malay Malaysians.
>
> "The letter falsely accused the government of ignoring the
> benefits of orang asli (indigenous people) and said allowances and medical
> care are only given to those who become Muslims.
>
> "It also implied that Malays are the cause of poverty among
> Indians as Malay businessmen were said to have bought plantations for
> project development," he said.
>
> Azimi said Malay special rights have been provided for under
> Article 153 of the Federal Constitution and should not be questioned.
>
> He said the letter was also malicious for having likened Umno
> Youth to the Ku Klux Klan in America "which was ready to kill other races".
>
> Censor offensive materials
>
> Azimi urged the Home Affairs Ministry to monitor closely content
> on the Internet and take action against malaysiakini or any other website
> that publishes materials which are detrimental to national interests.
>
> He also hoped that news websites and media organisations will be
> more responsible when disseminating information.
>
> "If they fail to censor offensive materials which are unfit for
> publication, the authorities should then investigate and act on them," he
> said.
>
> Malaysiakini editor Steven Gan (photo) said that the online
> daily's policy with regard to the letters forum is to encourage free and
> open discussion on controversial issues.
>
> "But that does not mean we publish letters without due care. We
> exercise a strict selective process in which letters that are considered
> personal attacks or those which could possibly breach existing laws are left
> out," he said.
>
> "We believe that the said letter did not carry any seditious
> remarks that could incite racial violence, but was based on a factual
> comparative study."
>
> Today's police report is the third made against malaysiakini
> since its launch three years ago.
>
> In March 2001, Selangor police lodged a report against the news
> website for quoting the opposition that the death toll from the Petaling
> Jaya Selatan racial clashes could be higher than the official count of six.
>
> In July the same year, a university student leader filed a
> report claiming that a letter published on malaysiakini bearing his name was
> not written by him.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Adam Peake" <ajp@glocom.ac.jp>
> To: <communication@wsisasia.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2003 12:59 PM
> Subject: [communication 398] Malaysiakini - reader's letter
>
> > Does anyone have a text of the letter that caused the raid, seizure,
> > and eviction order?
> >
> > I'm a little hesitant about the following, as my memory is terrible
> > and I have not notes... But, if I remember correctly, there was a
> > presentation from Arfa about Malaysiakini at the Forum
> > Asia/WACC/Bread For All workshop in Bangkok last November. In a reply
> > to a question about how an independent online press can survive in
> > what was essentially repressive environment, I think the reply was
> > something like: with honesty, accuracy and editorial integrity.
> >
> > I'd like to know if the recent situation was caused by a lapse of
> > editorial judgement (publishing a letter that was, by any normal,
> > international journalistic standards, over the top/libelous), or
> > massive overreaction by the Malaysian govt. If the former, that does
> > not make the govt's repression an appropriate response, far from it,
> > and our letter of protest is fine. If the latter, then I think we
> > should be looking to some wider protest, trying to involve
> > international advocacy groups, taking it to WSIS and more.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Adam
> > --
> >