Malaysiakini
Embassy tells Thai journalists: police raid on Malaysiakini lawful
5:29pm Wed Feb 19th, 2003
The Malaysian Embassy in Bangkok said the police have followed 'due
process' in carrying out the controversial raid o?n malaysiakini last
month which resulted in the seizure of 19 computers from the o?nline
news daily.
The embassy was responding to a Feb 7 report 'Malaysiakini crackdown
condemned' in Thailand's English-language newspaper The Nation
concerning an open letter by a group of Thai journalists to Prime
Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
"The embassy wishes to point out that the Malaysian authorities have
allowed malaysiakini to operate freely without imposing any form of
censorship since it started operations three years ago," said the
mission's first secretary Kamsiah Kamaruddin.
She said the police raid followed a complaint by Umno Youth that
malaysiakini had committed a seditious act.
"Such an investigation is provided for under the Malaysia Sedition Act
of 1948, which empowers the police to conduct investigations if they
have reasonable grounds to suspect that a seditious act has or is being
committed or is likely to be committed," she added in a letter published
by The Nation on Monday.
Up to AG
Kamsiah said the confiscation of the website's computers and servers was
to help the police investigate the allegation.
"Once the police have completed their investigation, and should the
attorney-general decide to press charges, it would be up to the
competent Malaysian courts to decide whether malaysiakini has committed
a seditious act or otherwise," she said.
Early this month, 38 Thai journalists sent a letter to Mahathir through
the embassy condemning the police raid.
"As much as you or other leaders of Malaysia may not like some of the
opinions expressed o?n the Internet newspaper, we ... believed that it
is to the best interests of any society that the people enjoy the right
to freely express themselves," the journalists told the premier.
The Thai journalists also expressed disappointment that while the
Malaysian government was generally critical and outspoken about the
abuse of human rights and the hypocrisy of some Western governments, it
has resorted to strong-arm tactics to maintain control over its own
citizens and stop them from speaking out.
The journalists are from English-language dailies The Nation and Bangkok
Post, Thai-language dailies Kom Chad Luek, Thai Post, Matichon, Khao
Sod, Krungthep Turakij, Manager, magazines Nation Weekend, Art &
Culture, and Nation News Agency.
Fate unknown
In the Jan 20 police raid, 15 central processing units and four servers
were confiscated for "forensic examination" over an allegedly seditious
letter published in malaysiakini.
The next day, malaysiakini was dealt another blow when it was slapped
with an eviction notice from its landlord PC Suria for having committed
"activities which contravene the laws of the country".
The raid was in response to a police report lodged by Umno Youth over
the letter written by a reader, which the movement claimed had
questioned Malay special rights and the system of racial preferences.
Fifteen computers have since been returned but the fate of the four
servers is unknown.
The police have also recorded statements from malaysiakini
editor-in-chief Steven Gan (left) and four other editorial staff.
Those found guilty of violating the Sedition Act are punished with a
maximum RM5,000 fine or a jail sentence of up to three years, or both.