I am shocked at the forced shutdown of the Sarawak Tribune by the authorities. This goes against basic principles of free speech. Worst still is that the media is being punished for reporting in a detailed, informative, truthful and comprehensive way. The alternative of this is being deceptive and the twisting of news to suit political agendas (known as "wag the dog").

I believe in freedom of speech. Sadly, even the countries that printed the cartoons or supported others to do so, do not genuinely have freedom of speech in their own countries. Take for example anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan who was detained by the police when she accepted an invitation by the opposition political party in the United States to address the Senate.

Then there are the Holocaust deniers. British war historian David Irving is languishing in jail waiting to be tried for arguing that the Holocaust did not happen. Another author, Ernst Zuendel, is currently on trial for his book Did Six Million Really Die? Even cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri was jailed after his anti-Semitic remarks and his infamous statement about the Sept 11 tragedy, calling it "A towering day in history".

The fact is that insulting and ridiculing Muhammad and his followers - the Muslims - is justified as part of the Western legitimate right to freedom of speech. However, denying the Holocaust and also praising freedom fighting by victims of an occupation and oppression is forbidden. Definitely double standards are applied here and Muslims are always on the losing end.

Sadly, even our Malaysian government is more interested in hiding facts and realities in order to appease and placate their Western masters. We may be Merdeka in name but not in substance.