Media law may be tightened: Mahathir

Media law may be tightened: Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad fired
another broadside at the foreign media on Monday and said
Malaysia may amend its own media law to make the legislation more
effective.

The government is prepared to study existing laws to make them
more relevant and effective, he told reporters, and this may
include the Printing Presses and Publication Act.

"The (act) for instance may not be very effective...we'll find
ways to restore its relevancy," Bernama news agency quoted him as
saying.

Any changes to this act would not point towards unlimited
press freedom, he said.

"We don't want to be like the press in other countries, the
so-called liberal countries, who tell lies, fabricate stories,
provoke people and don't give a fair picture," he said.

Mahathir said the foreign media could do anything it liked --
including fabricating stories or presenting half-truths -- and
escape punishment.

"For example, they may report that there is a lot of rioting
in Malaysia when in fact, it is a very rare incident limited to
one place only," he said.

Ethnic clashes broke out last month in a run-down district
near Kuala Lumpur and six people were killed. Police are
investigating opposition leaders for sedition for having
suggested that the death toll may be higher than the official
figure.

Overseas media which carried the opposition remarks were also
fiercely criticized.

Mahathir said the international press did not care about
accuracy when reporting about Malaysia, hoping that this would
deter foreign investment.

He cited his interview this year with Asiaweek magazine, which
he alleged misquoted him.

Mahathir at the time complained that the magazine deliberately
used a cover picture of him that made look like "an idiot."

In February government censors began delaying the clearance
for sale of both Asiaweek and the Far Eastern Economic Review.
Mahathir's government has for years fiercely criticized the
Western media for alleged biased and inaccurate reporting.

But between the 1980s and this year it had made no overt moves
to suppress its operations or to curb sales.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar last month told Malaysians
working for the foreign media not to help "destroy the country"
through inaccurate reporting.

The Printing Presses and Publications Act bans the publication
of "malicious news" and empowers the government to ban or
restrict the circulation of local publications.
Last year the government severely curbed the circulation of the
opposition party newspaper Harakah.

Activists

In another development, Malaysian reform activists who have
been detained without trial began a court challenge on Monday
against their arrest under the draconian Internal Security Act.

But the five, who were not present and were represented by
lawyers, suffered a temporary setback when the judge disqualified
himself after being told that his brother would lead the
government legal team.

High Court Judge Abdul Wahab Patail said he was withdrawing
from hearing the habeas corpus applications because he "did not
want the issue of family to creep and cloud the case".

Abdul Gani Patail, from the attorney-general's office, will
represent authorities in the case.

Lawyers said the judge should stay and his brother Gani be
replaced.

"We accept your apprehension. But we are concerned about the
delay... we do not see why the prosecution cannot be led by
anybody else," Zainur Zakaria told the judge.

A new judge will on Tuesday hear the writs against police
chief Norian Mai seeking habeas corpus -- a British legal maxim
dating back to the 17th century under which someone can be
brought to court to investigate whether they are legally
detained.

Wives of detainees, opposition leaders and other supporters
packed the court. The five are among seven supporters of jailed
former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim who were held last week.