What Was Seditious About The Malaysian Insider’s Incorrect Reporting On Hudud?

What did The Malaysian Insider do wrong? Was the arrest necessary? Your questions about the five journalists who were arrested under sedition answered.

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A dozen police and officers from the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) raided The Malaysian Insider (TMI) office in Petaling Jaya yesterday evening

The Malaysian Insider managing editor Lionel Morais (left) with MCMC officials at TMI's office.

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They left with managing editor Lionel Morais, Bahasa Malaysia features and analysis editor Zulkifli Sulong and Bahasa Malaysia news editor Amin Iskandar under their arrest

The Malaysian Insider editors Lionel Morais (left), Amin Shah Iskandar (centre) and Zulkifli Sulong (right) were arrested yesterday when police, aided by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) officials, raided TMI's office in Mutiara Damansara.

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This morning, two more journalists, The Edge publisher Ho Kay Tat and TMI chief executive Jahabar Sadiq joined their colleagues in the police station

The five were arrested under Section 233 of the Sedition Act which deals with "improper use of network facilities or network services"

Why were they arrested?
The Malaysian Insider and The Edge struck the core of two sensitive issues in Malaysia: hudud law and the Malay Rulers

On 25 March 2015, the news publications reported from unnamed sources that the Conference of Rulers had rejected a proposal to amend a federal law that would allow hudud to be enforced in Kelantan

As it turns out, The Malaysian Insider had misreported the issue. This reporting error led to police reports from various parties lodged against it.

Where is the criminal element in this?

The news portals had behaved "irresponsibly" and had "twisted the facts", says Barisan Nasional MPs

The reporting was "inaccurate and confusing", says Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar

Khalid said on Twitter last week that the police would question TMI editors over the news portal's allegedly 'inaccurate and confusing' reports.

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The report was provocative in nature and is an attempt to challenge the Ruler's institution, says Communications and Multimedia Minister Shabery Cheek

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Was the arrest necessary?

"Should the article have been found to be incorrect, it could have been rebutted and TMI requested to retract it or publish a correction," The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ)

The news portal's lawyer Syahredzan Johan says that the three editors were hauled in for investigation over a news report published last week linking the thorny hudud issue to the Conference of Rulers.

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Journalists are duty bound to provide information to the public, "even if it's in the realm of speculation", says Geramm, a loose coalition of journalists and activists

What do these arrests mean?

According to CIJ, these arrests highlights the worrying trend of a decline in standards Malaysia's freedom of expression

Geramm views this intimidation and harassment as an attempt to silence the media using unwarranted influence

[Terkini] Saudara Rafizi direman lagi 3 hari.Hanya kerana melawan rasuah dan kezaliman.

Posted by Rafizi Ramli on Friday, 27 March 2015

Ever since the sedition dragnet started in late 2014, Malaysians felt de javu at another Operasi Lalang in the making

The Star newspaper headline on Ops Lalang in 1988.

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With 158 Malaysians arrested in only two months, Operasi Lalang II is now all too real

Understand the hudud law that got TMI in trouble with the authorities:

Latest issues leading to arrests under the Sedition Act:

For a list of Malaysians who have fallen victim to the sedition dragnet:

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