New Post has been published on The Rakyat Post
New Post has been published on http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2015/03/31/tmi-did-no-wrong-under-the-sedition-act-says-umno-lawmaker/
TMI did no wrong under the Sedition Act, says Umno lawmaker
KUALA LUMPUR, March 31, 2015:
Umno lawmaker and Pulai Member of Parliament Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said it was a not right move to detain five staff of The Malaysian Insider (TMI) news portal under the Sedition Act 1948.
According to him, arresting the five under the Sedition Act was unjustified as what happened was more of an âerror in reportingâ.
âI think it is a (reporting) mistake. It shouldnât be under the Sedition Act, which is why the government is being perceived so badly. The arrest was based on the article, not sedition.
âArresting and throwing them into prison over a writing error is not supposed to happen,â he said in Parliament today.
As of today, five employees of TMI; The Edge publisher Ho Kay Tat, chief executive officer Jahabar Saddiq, Bahasa Malaysia news editor Amin Iskandar Shah, managing editor Lionel Morais and Bahasa Malaysia features and analysis editor Zulkifli Sulong were arrested by police.
Their arrest came after The Malaysian Insider published an article on March 25, quoting sources as saying that the Council of Malay Rulers rejected the proposal to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965.
âI think itâs because of the title. The government must understand the development of the media today, this is the concept of online and no longer printing.
âYou cannot use the Sedition Act for everything. Look at it first,â Nur Jazlan said.
His fellow Umno colleague, Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, however, felt that the arrest was warranted.
âThe freedom of press does not mean freedom to lie. Whatever written must be the truth,â he told a press conference at Parliament this evening.
Nazri said the Sedition Act was needed to ensure Malay rulers were respected.
âThey were rightly arrested because journalists are not above the law.â