Malaysiakini.com Reporting Issue - Government Should Not Overreact.
We all know that a report was lodged against Malaysiakini at the Kota Baru police station on Monday (July 31, 2006) by acting Kelantan CID police chief Superintendent Shafie Ismail. According to his report, the news website's article, published last Friday, (July 28, 2006) was untrue and had tarnished the image of the police.
The article had stated that the perpetrator of the pepper spray attack was believed to be a member of the police Special Operations Force. Police are investigating the report for defamation under Section 500 of the Penal Code which carries a penalty of up to two years jail, a fine or both, upon conviction.
Malaysiakini has since explained its side of the story and have offered to apologise if it had offended the cops. The police should, in a generous and reasonable gesture, gracefully accept the apology and caution the errant reporter to be more careful the next time around. And with that the matter should end.
There is no benefit belabouring the issue and attempting to score meaningless points by putting the internet news portal on the defensive or worse, in the dock. The false info was retracted within an hour and to allege that the 60 minutes the news was on the website had somehow 'tarnished' the image of the police is laughable at best and sheer stupidity even.
First of all the charge probably would not hold in a proper court trial. It will be a waste of time and resources for all involved in the matter. And more importantly the police will come out of all this not only looking worse than their reputation is today, they would have indirectly given a massive advertisement boost to Malaysiakini in particular and to the internet news media in general. Third, the police frankly must have more pressing matters to handle than involve themselves in petty politics that involve ego more than any serious violation of the law.
In short, the authorities and the police should be magnanimous and accept the "we're sorry" note from Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan, and I'm sure that the gesture will be well received and remembered by them in the future.
Earlier related post: Don't Detain Netizens, Talk to Them Pak Lah.
The article had stated that the perpetrator of the pepper spray attack was believed to be a member of the police Special Operations Force. Police are investigating the report for defamation under Section 500 of the Penal Code which carries a penalty of up to two years jail, a fine or both, upon conviction.
Malaysiakini has since explained its side of the story and have offered to apologise if it had offended the cops. The police should, in a generous and reasonable gesture, gracefully accept the apology and caution the errant reporter to be more careful the next time around. And with that the matter should end.
There is no benefit belabouring the issue and attempting to score meaningless points by putting the internet news portal on the defensive or worse, in the dock. The false info was retracted within an hour and to allege that the 60 minutes the news was on the website had somehow 'tarnished' the image of the police is laughable at best and sheer stupidity even.
First of all the charge probably would not hold in a proper court trial. It will be a waste of time and resources for all involved in the matter. And more importantly the police will come out of all this not only looking worse than their reputation is today, they would have indirectly given a massive advertisement boost to Malaysiakini in particular and to the internet news media in general. Third, the police frankly must have more pressing matters to handle than involve themselves in petty politics that involve ego more than any serious violation of the law.
In short, the authorities and the police should be magnanimous and accept the "we're sorry" note from Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan, and I'm sure that the gesture will be well received and remembered by them in the future.
Earlier related post: Don't Detain Netizens, Talk to Them Pak Lah.
posted by The Malaysian. at 8/03/2006 05:23:00 PM
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