Amnesty criticises Malaysian arrests for insulting sultan
Amnesty International on Wednesday condemned Malaysia's move to charge eight people for insulting a sultan on the Internet, saying it was a serious blow to freedom of expression.
Six people were charged last week over comments posted on a royal website, under laws banning the transmission of vulgar or threatening comments. Another two were brought to court in northeastern Terengganu state on Monday.
One of the eight has already pleaded guilty and has been fined 10,000 ringgit (2,699 dollars) in the first conviction of its kind in the country, while the others face trial after pleading not guilty and up to one year in jail.
Amnesty urged the Malaysian government to drop all the charges, saying the move was a "very troubling step backward."
"This development is a serious blow to freedom of expression in Malaysia and has set a very dangerous precedent for people wishing to express their views on the Internet," Sam Zarifi, Amnesty's Asia-Pacific director, said in a statement.
"The Internet was one of the few venues available for Malaysians to express their views relatively freely, and now it looks like the government will extend its restrictions on free press to the web," he added.
The comments were posted during a political crisis that broke out in January in northern Perak state, pitting the Pakatak Rakyat opposition alliance against the Barisan Nasional coalition which rules nationally.
In a controversial move, Sultan Azlan Shah ordered the Pakatan Rakyat state government to quit after defections upset the delicate balance of power in the state, which changed hands in general elections a year ago.
Malaysia's government has expressed frustration over its inability to rein in blogs and Internet portals, which have become popular alternative news sources in a country where the mainstream media is tightly controlled.
Since last year, the government has taken action against several online figures, including arresting the nation's most popular blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin under a tough security law which allows for detention without trial.
http://news.my.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=2855351
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