Bolehsian bloggers sued !

Rocky's Bru

Unchartered waters. None of us have passed this way before, so I shall have to tread carefully. I'll need you to tread carefully, too, when you leave your comments.
I have been served the papers. They dropped them on Tuesday evening, around 9.30 pm, at the National Press Club. They are applying for an injunction against Rocky's Bru, this blog. They are suing me for libel.
[They have also served Jeff Ooi of Screenshots the papers].

In the case against me, "they" are:

1. The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad (No. Syarikat 4485-H) 2. Kalimullah Bin Masheerul Hassan 3. Hishamuddin Bin Aun 4. Syed Faisal Albar Bin Syed A.R. Albar 5. Brenden John a/l John Pereira

The plaintiffs have cited 48 postings (under Schedule 1, the List of Defamatory Articles complained of in the Statement of Claims filed in this action).
I am now looking for a lawyer to represent me.
The application for injunction comes up on Jan 25 at the High Court.
Thank you for the support. God bless.

Screen Shots

Bloggers sued in Malaysia

The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad,
Kalimullah bin Masheerul Hassan, Hishamuddin
bin Aun and Brendan John a/l John Pereira have
jointly taken an order, via an ex-parte injunction
obtained in the High Court of Malaya Kuala
Lumpur (Civil Suit No. S6-23-3-2007) on January
11, 2007, against this blogger.

The abovementioned parties' application for an
injunction has been fixed for a hearing at the
same court on January 30, 2007 at 9.00am.

My lawyers are now taking care of it

Meanwhile, Screenshots was informed that
journo-blogger Ahiruddin Attan (Rocky's Bru)
has been served January 16 a Writ of Summons
and Statement of Claim by the New Straits Times
Press (Malaysia) Berhad and four others, dated
January 11.

The parties' application for an injunction against
Rocky has been fixed for a hearing on January
25, 2007.

Indonesia based Unspun commented on the incident

Now comes news that Malaysian bloggers (Screenshots and Rocky’s Bru) are being sued for their postings by, of all people, journalists. So much for the cut and thrust of intellectual parrying to arrive at a greater truth, and the ability of offended parties to instantly respond to correct any untruths in blogs.

Lim Kit Siang wrote :

The defamation proceedings launched by the New Straits Times Press (NSTP) against two bloggers, Jeff Ooi of Screenshots fame and Ahirudin Atan who runs Rocky’s Bru is a grave development in the defence of the legal rights of bloggers and citizen journalists in Malaysia to break the stifling monopoly of the mainstream media.

No responsible blogger will claim absolute freedom of speech and expression on the blogosphere, including the liberty to defame with impunity the character of others.

The NSTP defamation suits will have a chilling effect on freedom of bloggers and citizen journalists as litigation is so expensive that its costs will cripple and paralyse the ordinary individual blogger, making no contribution whatsoever to a healthy process to delineate and define the legal rights of bloggers and citizen journalists

Jeffry Said :

This is not a clamp down by the government on bloggers. The New Straits Times Press (NSTP) is a corporate citizen in its own rights – not to be equated with the government – and NSTP has legal rights as rest of us under our laws not to be defamed (if indeed it was without legal justification). It is merely doing what it feels it is entitled by law – right or wrong. We cannot read into these unhappy developments as signaling a nationwide conspiracy or crackdown on freedom of the blogs.

Our courts then will have to bear the burden to arbitrate the boundaries of freedom of expression (whether of the press or against the press by bloggers) in this information age. Interestingly, the defences bloggers are likely to put up – reporting the truth, qualified privilege, fair comment, public interest blah blah blah – are likely to be the very ones that the Press will put up when there is a clamp down on it by others.

So in a way, when a Press takes a suit against a Blog, the Press is setting out to seek judicial definition and boundary limits of its own freedom in publication in the wide field of the law on defamation. Unless in the Information and Internet Age, the view is otherwise taken that freedom of speech and expression in the blogosphere exceeds or in public interest ought to exceed even the freedom of speech and expression in respect of the Press (so called Fifth Estate), a view that is hard to justify.

You are however right on the other point that when engaging with the Press there is no level playing field in defamation or for that matter any legal proceedings particularly in terms of financial resources and capabilities, even for those well off and well connected like, for example, Mr T.T Durai of National Kidney Foundation Singapore (“NKF”) who learnt the hard way when he took on to sue The Straits Times of Singapore for publishing an editorial “NKF: Controversially ahead of its time?” on 19th April 2004. Not only the Straits Times had the battery of lawyers and money to pay them, it had the vantage reach of national readership to influence public opinion which it took advantage by running more stories of abuses in NKF, precipitating the beginning of the end of T.T Durai’s career.

On the issue of the powers of the Press, we can only hope NSTP exercises its rights and powers judiciously and sparingly against bloggers because all are operating under the common banner and platform of Freedom of Speech and Expression. In upholding this principle, NSTP should not seek to deny or restrict more the boundaries of exercise of the same principle and right by those in bloggershere who criticise or are inimical towards it.

For the rest of us who believe in Freedom of the Net (within limits of the law) we can mitigate the uneven level playing field by making financial donations to the Bloggers’ legal funds to pay for their lawyers.

Susan Said :

Walk with Rocky & Jeff coz it ain’t over till it’s over.

(News about the matter hit the blogsphere recently, Susan Loone broke this news some days back.)

kickdefella :

In Rocky We Trust

As we live and breathe, we are witnessing the servant becoming the master. Those people whom we paid for their everything to work for us, has now dictate us. Are now working against us. Some say, better the devil than the deep blue sea, however I rather say, both is not good enough.

walski69 said :

Using the legal system is not going to buy the NST back any credibility. In fact, Walski thinks that the effect will be quite the opposite. We'll see...

Merdeka Review :

两位著名部落客有难, 被告诽谤诉状一尺厚 here

新海峡时报集团起诉二部落客
吉祥：严重打击突破媒体垄断 here

malaysia blogger sued dirty politic