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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s highest court on Friday (February 19) found the Malaysiakini news portal in contempt of court for comments posted by readers deemed offensive to the judiciary, in a case widely seen as proof of freedom of press in the Southeast Asian nation.
Malaysiakini has been ordered to pay a fine of RM500,000 (US $ 123,000).
Last year, Malaysia’s attorney general filed a request to subpoena Malaysiakini and editor-in-chief Steven Gan in contempt of court for five comments posted by readers on his website that he said undermined public confidence in the judiciary. .
In a six-to-one decision on Friday, a Federal Court panel ruled that Malaysiakini had full responsibility for its website, including everything posted.
The panel, however, found Gan not guilty of the crime.
Malaysiakini is unlikely to be able to appeal the verdict as the case was heard before the highest court in the country.
Malaysiakini Editor-in-Chief Steven Gan arrives at the Federal Court in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on February 19, 2021 (Photo: Reuters / Lim Huey Teng).
Malaysiakini and Gan have maintained that they cannot be held responsible and the offensive comments were removed immediately after contacted by the police.
Gan and Malaysiakini’s legal team could not be immediately reached for comment Friday with the court still in session and before a sentence is announced.
In January, Gan said journalists should not “give up” on what he described as “harassment” by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government.
Steven Gan, Malaysiakini editor-in-chief, at the Putrajaya Federal Court on February 19, 2021 (Photo: AFP / Mohd Rasfan).
He said that in the two decades since he founded Malaysiakini, his journalists had been declared traitors, faced debilitating cyberattacks, kicked out of press conferences, arrested and assaulted by police.
Malaysia has raised the world press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders in recent years. But rights groups have said that freedom of speech and freedom of the press face renewed pressure after an unexpected change in the Muhyiddin government in March last year.
The government had denied that it was cracking down on press freedom.
