30 March 2005
BLOGGERS HARASSED BY AUTHORITIES
The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is raising concerns over what appears to be growing harassment of individuals who use online blogs to express views and share information in Malaysia. The IFEX member says the government's policing of the Internet is reaching a critical stage that needs to be recognised and confronted by free expression advocates.
In the past two months, three bloggers have been questioned by authorities for posting information on their personal web diaries. On 14 March 2005, Mack Zulkifli was questioned in his home by police officers and unidentified government officials who asked him to help them "understand the latest developments of weblogs," according to the independent online news service Malaysiakini.com.
Zulkifli was asked how the content of blogs can be controlled and why he ran a blog when he appeared to derive no income from it. Zulkifli's blog brandmalaysia.com is a non-political and non-religious site that receives up to 3,000 hits a day.
On the same day, Ali Bukhari Amir, a student at the Science University of Malaysia, was questioned by a university investigative committee about his blog and his links with the Federal Public Students Movement. According to Malaysiakini.com, Ali was urged by the committee to use his writing talents to support the government. Ali had been questioned previously in December 2004 about articles he wrote for a university newspaper and an opposition party publication.
Meanwhile, Jeff Ooi is being investigated by police over an allegedly blasphemous comment posted on 28 September 2004 by an anonymous user on his blog Screenshots http://www.jeffooi.com/).The comment, signed by "Anwar," ridiculed Islam, the dominant religion in Malaysia. Ooi has removed the comment from his blog and barred the user from posting future comments.
Ooi is being investigated under Section 298A of the Penal Code, a legal clause relating to acts fostering "religious disunity." If he is charged, Ooi faces up to five years in jail even though Malaysia's Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that Section 298A was unconstitutional.
Despite its economic strength, Malaysia remains a politically restrictive society where government maintains a strict hold over news and information, and other forms of mass communication, says SEAPA. Print and broadcast media are subject to state ownership and stiff licensing rules.
Visit these links:
- SEAPA: http://www.seapabkk.org/newdesign/newsdetail.php?No=339- Malaysiakini.com: http://www.malaysiakini.com- Center for Independent Journalism: http://www.cijmalaysia.org/- Live Interview with Jeff Ooi and Mack Zulkifli: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/?page_id=87- Report on Press Freedom in Malaysia: http://www.freemedia.at/wpfr/Asia/malaysia.htm
Malaysia
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