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.