KUALA LUMPUR – Laywers For Liberty (LFL) must always be fair in any dispute and treat all parties equally, said the President of the National Press Club (NPC), Datuk Ahirudin Attan.
He said this following LFL’s statement criticizing the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for filing a police report against a foreign blogger Murray Hunter who accused the Internet regulatory agency and the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) of being ‘political institutions’.
“Since the victim here is not Murray Hunter, he is the perpetrator, the attacker. The victim is your own institution, MCMC. LFL is Malaysians and MCMC is Malaysians. At least LFL should be fair.
“If you want to take action against MCMC for filing a police report, you should take action against Murray Hunter, ask why he is so concerned, focusing on Malaysia negatively… we don’t know why he (Hunter) did such a thing, so how can LFL can you be so sure that he is the best in looking after Malaysia’s interests?,” he told Bernama after the NPC-MACROKIOSK 2024 Goodwill Awards Ceremony here on Tuesday.
Also, Ahirudin thinks that the LFL should not be political in this dispute, because such action could lead people to think that the LFL has a political agenda.
“Like Murray Hunter attacked the Sultan of Selangor last month, accusing the Sultan of Selangor of ‘abuse of power’, is there any LFL making noise? Did they question Murray Hunter about that? I speak for freedom of speech, freedom of the press, but we have to write about the truth. If we write a half truth, it is still not considered the truth.
“We journalists know that Murray Hunter is not a journalist, he is a former lecturer who was fired from Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), so naturally he has reason to be angry with Malaysians. If they (LFL) want to support Murray Hunter, that’s fine , but need to be fair to the victims,” he said.
Yesterday, the MCMC filed a report against Hunter for defamatory writing, for publicly accusing the commission of acting beyond its jurisdiction for personal gain and accusing the commission and the police of intimidating the public.
The commission also reminded that spreading false content with the intention of disturbing others is a crime under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and the act of uploading content that defames MCMC is also an offence.
Earlier, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil defended MCMC’s actions for filing a police report against Hunter and stated that the institution had grounds to take legal action.
Regarding the launch of the NPC-MARCOKIOSK Goodwill Awards 2024, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MARKIOSK, Datuk Kenny Goh said, the 2024 award series will continue to recognize individuals, groups and organizations that exemplify the true essence of Goodwill (unity). promote unity and goodwill throughout Malaysia this year.
“We are excited to collaborate again with NPC to launch the second series of Anugerah Muhibbah. We hope that the award will continue to inspire more Malaysians to care and respect each other,” he said.
Kenny said in its inaugural series, the Anugerah Muhibbah celebrated six winners, and Malaysians could expect more inspiring narratives of compassion, unity and dedication in the community in the upcoming 2024 edition. – Named
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