ANALYSIS. The agenda behind NSTP and its senior personnel’s motive in suing the bloggers is now exposed!
They are now MORE concerned with readers’ commentaries in the blogs than the bloggers’ blog entries!
The hidden aganda surfaced this morning when lawyers representing The NSTP raised concerns over comments left in Rocky’s blog — and readers’ comments in Raja Petra’s blog (Malaysia-Today) which is not related to Rocky’s blog nor his lawsuit — and wanted them removed, citing sub judice rules.
Look! The NST had actually wanted to silence all online readers — in a blanket manner — from voicing out their views about issues probed and discussed in the blogs. Isn’t this an attempt to stifle the common people’s freedom of expression?
According to Malaysiakini, the plantiffs have also applied to the court today to remove comments pertaining to their defamation suit which appeared in Raja Petra Kamarudin’s Malaysia Today blog, which is totally not connected to Rocky’s blog and lawsuit.
In an immediate response, Ahirudin’s lawyer Edmund Bon told the press that the plantiffs – NSTP and four others – wanted comments discussing the merits of the case to be removed as they risked prejudicing the case.
Look at the key points that Bon has pinpointed:
“We were only told about it this morning that they want such comments removed so we will look into these comments and give the plaintiffs an answer on Monday.
“We will decide whether it is indeed sub judice [...] we have not taken a position yet whether we want to leave the comments in the site or remove it,” he told reporters in Wisma Denmark, Kuala Lumpur today.
He stressed the comments were not related to what Ahirudin had written but what his commentators have been saying.
Meanwhile, another lawyer defending Rocky in the defamation suit also claimed today that Rocky’s suit is impossible to defend, and wanted the court to have the controversial legal action struck out.
This is how Rocky’s co-defence lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar was quited by the reporter from Agencie France Presse (AFP):
“What Rocky is contending is that with the claim the way it is, it is impossible to know how to adequately defend himself,” his lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur civil High Court.
“What we are arguing is that the claim must specifically set out which phrase relates to which meaning so that we can know how to defend it,” he said.
In his affidavit, Rocky claimed that, by suing him for defamation, the plaintiffs were actually going on a ‘fishing expedition” which, in legal jargon, simply means the accusers did not first provide concrete pleadings but intended to have them revealed during trial, fishing them from the defendants!
Strike it out!
Yesterday, Rocky gave the instruction to his lawyers to strike out the defamation suit on several grounds:
- the suit filed did not state clearly which alleged defamatory posts refers to which of the plaintiffs
- the defendant would have trouble defending himself because of such unclear pleadings
- the defendant is placed in a position where he does not know what case he is facing
- some paragraphs refer to posting which are not part of the 48 postings that plaintiffs want removed
- the process of discovery of the trial is akin to a ‘fishing expedition’- the pleadings must first be concrete instead of being revealed during trial
So much for peddlers of responsible journalism to “promote responsible blogging”.
High Court Judge Hishamudin Mohamed Yunus has fixed February 22 as the date for the hearing of the application to strike out the case while the interparte injunction hearing will only be heard thereafter.
Hear this from the Associated Press quoting Deputy Information Minister Chia Kwang Chye: “The suit will have a ‘dampening effect on future bloggers’ and make them more cautious.”
As an immediate reflection of the “chilling effect”, beginning today, Rocky has closed his commentary section for blog topics concerning his legal tussle with The NST and its senior employees. What is blog without readers’ feedback?
Your rights to speak is being taken away. Can you bring it back? Think and think hard!
January 26, 2007 at 3:38 am
I concur with your summary of views. It seems like the mainstream media wants to shut out public opinion or rather, want to only retain opinion favourable to their self interests. This is very much against the freedom of media by AAB. It seems like the only media ‘free’ to publish, would be the mainstream, incidentally owned by component parties of BN.
In as civilized way as possible to say things, it’s evidently clear that the government is faux in their intentions & nothing better than Mahathir. Takes an oppressor to call someone else an oppressor. Exactly why Mahathir is happy to call Malaysia a police state under dear AAB
January 26, 2007 at 2:07 pm
NST want to shut everybody up on grounds of being subjudice. Now what has NST got to say about this story which they published on the day of Rocky’s hearing. Who were they trying to influence? Readers, be the judge. Isn’t it being subjudice.
And what about the PM’S comments on the two bloggers.
http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/newsncom.php?itemid=2072
January 26, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Blog is a new web phenomenon. It benefits are immeasurable. Just look at how the big organizations embrace blog should give one an idea of its importance. Even, Time’s magazine has an entire section for blogs (www.time.com/time/blogs)!
It is unimaginable for a government that never stop boasting her IT initiatives would take such a self-sabotaging measure. Seems like this stupidity is also a new phenomenon.
January 26, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Flip-flop suits should be thrown out not just ’strike-out’ and these aNgSTy morons should resign voluntarily and stop wasting public resources BOTH the court’s and GLC(i.e. taxpayer’s money) money and time!
January 26, 2007 at 3:02 pm
[...] Education Berhad to keep a sharp hawk-eye on such documents. Don’t feel guilty. Help us put the jigsaw puzzle together, and you are doing this nation a big [...]
January 26, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Today the seek to erase you,
Tomorrow the seek to erase your frens,
Welcome to the Mat-rix!
January 27, 2007 at 2:12 am
You can collect all the signatures you want and make all the police reports you like.
Do you think this will make a difference?
The PM has blantantly given RM600 million to UMNO and we couldn’t do anything about it.
He bought an plane and a boat, and we are helpless.
He gives contract to his family and we are gasping for breath.
This is a lawless country man.
January 27, 2007 at 3:46 am
Should bloggers be responsible to what their readers write on the comments which is in the bloggers domain of control? (the author of the blog has the access to remove any comments).
January 27, 2007 at 4:05 am
Libra, you are dot on. They published the PM’s comments, filled with innuendos against the bloggers, and then sought the views of “experts” to further influenced people’s minds that the NSTP is really the one being bullied and the bloggers are monsters!
I would like to see our heroes’ lawyers, who are not big guns like their opponents’ lawyers Shearn, put this to the learned Judge.
Subjudice? How can my views or Libra’s views published left in a blog like Rocky’s Bru be more influential or damning than the PM’s views published in NST and Berita Harian (print and on-line) and the group’s televisions and radio stations?
Oh, OK, maybe the people don’t believe the PM anymore so our views are more credible than Abdullah’s. But the NSTP newspapers, on-line, tv and radio published and broadcast the views of eminent people on the day Libra said they did, and that is very damning, subjudice, and prejudice, indeed.
Can I aSk this influential blog to re-publish what the NST and BH publish so everyone can read the article that appeared on the 25th, the day Rocky went to court.
Thank you.
January 28, 2007 at 3:07 pm
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