Is the axe finally coming down in the Malaysian cyberspace after the four-day arrest of Nathaniel Tan with the high-level Umno police report against Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin, the webmaster of the popular political website, Malaysia Today?
In his article “A game of cat and mouse” on his website yesterday, Raja Petra had floated the theory put to him by “people in the intelligence community” that Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman and Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan had met Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who is currently in Australia to “discuss Malaysia Today, plus get Pak Lah’s blessing and permission to close Malaysia Today down and arrest me” in view of the “damage Malaysia Today has inflicted on the image of Sabah, the Royal Malaysian Police, and Pak Lah personally”.
Are the instruments of repression of the past regime, which had never been dismantled, being re-activated against criticism, dissent and expose of abuses of power and corrupt practices in the run-up to the coming general election?
Criminal law should not be abused to arrest, intimidate and silence any one, including Raja Petra for his many exposes against top police and political leaders who should avail themselves of the right and remedy to institute civil proceedings of defamation to vindicate their reputation and clear their name if Raja Petra is guilty of making baseless allegations against them.
I call on the Prime Minister to stand firm against opening the floodgates to allow criminal laws to be abused for personal, political or partisan purposes.
Otherwise, the question uppermost in the minds of Malaysians will be “After Raja Petra, who’s next?”
This is Malaysiakini’s story on Umno’s police report against Raja Petra:
Umno lodges report against Malaysia Today
Jul 23, 07 2:46pmUmno has filed a police report against political website Malaysia Today for allegedly publishing disparaging remarks against the King and Islam.
The report was filed at the Dang Wangi police station by Umno information chief Muhammad Muhammad Taib this afternoon. He was accompanied by some 30 people.
When contacted, Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Mohamad Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman confirmed that a report was lodged.
“We will investigate the matter,” he said.
Taib told reporters later that the report was regarding remarks published on the website on July 11 and several other articles.
He claimed that the postings and articles were disrespectful to the King and Islam. According to him, they had the potential to create unrest in the country and strike fear in the people.
“The reports contain criminal elements which could incite anyone and cause fear. Maybe these people (bloggers) had forgotten that Malaysia is a country with many sensitivities,” he said.
Taib said such postings and articles could have a negative influence on the younger generation and urged for the police to take swift action.
Conspiracy theory
In an article published on Malaysia Today, Raja Petra wrote on the possibility of efforts being mounted to close his website down and have him arrested.In the article titled ‘A game of cat and mouse’, he claimed that the “intelligence community” informed him that Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman and Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan had met Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Australia recently to discuss this matter.
Malaysia Today had published numerous articles containing allegations of corruption and abuse of power against the chief minister and police chief, which had since been denied.
The website had also been highly critical of the prime minister and his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin, who is also Umno Youth deputy chief.
Meanwhile, Raja Petra, when contacted later, declined to comment on the report.