Politics 101 Malaysia

”Continued”

I’ve been asked several times why this blog is not walking aloud with the Walk With Us crew.

Simple. I want to walk with them but I don’t want to walk in the dark, like so many are doing.

I want to know the specifics of the suits which are still not made public. As the suits will be heard in open court, the specifics of the suits are not private and confidential. If the bloggers involved choose to keep the specifics private, then there’s no reason to seek public support. It’s as simple as that.

There’s no point ‘leaking’ some info here and there to select bloggers to publicise certain points whenever convenient. That’s big time mind games. Why not leak the court documents. The public can then decide if the suits are frivolous and/or mala fide.

If they want unreserved support, lay the cards on the table. After all, when one sees it fit to make public certain documents on a regular basis, why not make public documents relating to themselves?

AFP, Jan 21.

A defamation lawsuit against two Malaysian bloggers by a pro-government daily has alarmed media watchdogs who say it is a landmark assault on Internet free expression.

The move by the English-language New Straits Times Press (NSTP) is the first time bloggers have been taken to court for their comments on the Internet in Malaysia, where the media is already tightly controlled.

The Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA) said it viewed the suit against the two well-known bloggers – Jeff Ooi who writes the “Screenshots” blog and Ahirudin Attan of “Rocky’s Bru” – with deep concern.

“It will impact on Malaysians’ access to diverse and independent news, commentary, and information, and will also adversely affect the Internet as a medium for free expression in a country where much of the mainstream press is owned and influenced by political parties and government itself,” it said. ”Continued”

This is a statement by Aliran

Charter 2000-Aliran is deeply concerned by the recent defamation suit brought out by the New Straits Times Press against bloggers Jeff Ooi of “Screenshots” fame and Ahirudin Attan (”Rocky’s Bru”) for their allegedly defamatory postings. Although we don’t intend to go into details of the case as it might be interpreted as being sub judice, we are disturbed by the repercussions the suit might have on blogging circles in the country. Bloggers may feel pressured to exercise more self-censorship and caution and this might deter them from exposing abuse of power and corruption at the highest levels. This suit is also politically significant for advocates of freedom of expression especially since the space available for democratic discourse on the Internet is far wider than the shrinking space available to the mainstream media. The mainstream media rarely expose major scandals or display investigative journalism. This uncritical and unquestioning approach was especially evident in their reporting of the case of the murdered Mongolian woman. Given this political context, a legal suit - especially if it involves a claim of damages that runs into the millions - may open the floodgates to other attempts to muzzle bloggers and webmasters using legal means. In the name of accountability, transparency and good governance, we call upon the government to institute reforms that strengthen democratic institutions and protect the right to free expression in the media, including the Internet. Dr Mustafa Kamal Anuar & Anil Netto Coordinators Charter 2000-Aliran 19 January 2007

Ok, so moves are in place to set up a defence fund for our blogging heroes.

I estimate each blogger would need anywhere from rm10k to rm250k, depending on how far the case goes and how complex it is.

Fine. Now I want to know whether NSTP shareholders are prepared to let the company use that sort of money to sue the two bloggers.

The shareholders must remember it’s not a open-and-shut case. NSTP may win and is only awarded a token rm1 in damage, without cost. Worse, it may lose and have to pay cost.

Is NSTP in the publication or sue-for-profit business?

The current Bloggergate scandal may not be as simple as just NSTP and associates vs Jeff Ooi and Rocky.

The civil suits smokescreens a larger fight, one involving another great Malay powerplay between Abdullah Badawi’s KJ’s knights and editorial forces who were marginalised in the post-Mahathir era.

One school of thought is that JO became a target — victim? — when he was perceived to be interfering with Umno politics through his perceived “team blogging” moves with Rocky in the past quarter. If Umno has to kill one, it has to kill both. It became a mouth-watering package for the boys playing politicians on that dreaded 4th Floor, the de facto acre of power.

NSTP itself could never be a party to the suits without the consent of its political masters, and they aren’t Kalimullah Bin Masheerul Hassan, Hishamuddin Bin Aun, Syed Faisal Albar Bin Syed A.R. Albar or Brenden John a/l John Pereira. They are proxy plaintiffs, probably, to up the ante, and frustrate the defendants’ legal resources.

The second school of though goes like this: that Rocky is the main target; that the suit against him is a warning to disgrunted, grudge-bearing ex-staff not to wear their “ex-NSTP” badge and kiss and tell; that it’s also a warning to present staff not to play ‘little birds’. Perhaps it may be an attempt to gag Rocky from revealing something else.

At the end of the day, it’s not hard to imagine that this is actually Umno vs Umno. The parties to the suits are all just proxies and victims.

I heard all this from a cab driver, so please don’t sue me.

An unnamed source close to the top NSTP management apparently told sun2surf: “The purpose of the suits is to help to promote responsible blogs.”

There you go — mind control in black n white.

Zaharom Nain, a journalism lecturer at the school of communications in Universiti Sains Malaysia, said the civil suits against Jeff Ooi and Rocky could intimidate bloggers and other internet users.

“The community of bloggers in Malaysia is lively but still relatively small. They would feel intimidated even though the government guarantees no censorship of the internet under the MSC (Multimedia Super Corridor),” he told Al Jazeera. The no-censorship rule is provided in the 10-point Bill of Guarantees under the MSC initiative that is designed to attract foreign investors.

Despite the official assurance, Zaharom says the country’s defamation laws are applicable to those operating in the cyber world. ”Continued”

I think it’s a great idea to rally bloggers to be united against the shameful legal actions against two fellow bloggers.

BUT when a statement is made to ask us to “endorse the Bloggers United movement”, I have to ask why.

Endorsing a cause and endorsing a movement is different.

I do not like the idea of anybody speaking on behalf of blogosphere, or bloggers. Sorry Jeff, not talking about you.

I don’t like the idea that it may “unionise” a section of blogosphere and create a divide between socio-political bloggers and lifestyle bloggers who just want to be left alone in their own little corner of the internet.

There are heaps of lifestyle bloggers — students, white collar workers, civil servants, soccer mums — who have sympathy for Jeff and Rocky and their support comes in ways that may not be visibly evident.