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Police release two Malaysiakini servers
Published:  Mar 18, 2003 11:12 AM
Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM

Almost two months after the controversial raid o­n malaysiakini , the police today returned two of the four remaining computer servers they seized from the o­nline news site's office.

The servers were among the 19 computers confiscated by the police o­n Jan 20 as part of an investigation under the Sedition Act.

The raid was in response to a police report lodged by Umno Youth over a letter published in the website which was said to be seditious because it allegedly questioned the special rights and privileges accorded to the Malays.

Previously, fifteen other computers have been returned to malaysiakini

in stages.

The release of the two servers came after lawyers representing malaysiakini delivered a demand letter to the police last Tuesday for the return of the hardware.

The letter, dated March 11, gave the police seven days to release the four remaining computers .

"Despite our client's repeated request for the return of their four servers, the police have either failed, refuse or acted in negligence in not doing so," said malaysiakini 's lawyer Edmund Bon in the letter, which was hand delivered and faxed to Computer Crimes Division head Supt Mohd Kamaruddin Md Din ( photo ) and investigating officer ASP Alzafny Ahmad.

"If the four servers are not returned to our client within seven days from the date of this letter, we have instructions to take whatever action necessary to regain the units without further referring to you."

Landlord's offer rejected

Meanwhile, malaysiakini has written a letter rejecting the offer from its landlord PC Suria to extend the tenancy agreement for another year.

A day after the raid, landlord PC Suria ordered malaysiakini to vacate its rented premise in Bangsar Utama, Kuala Lumpur, for having committed "activities which contravene the laws of the country".

The o­nline daily was given until Feb 28 to vacate its premises.

However , in a major reversal, PC Suria in a letter dated March 5, informed malaysiakini that it was willing to extend the tenancy agreement with a 15 percent hike in rental.

Malaysiakini

chief executive officer Premesh Chandran said the offer was unacceptable since the o­nline website had a two-year tenancy agreement with PC Suria based o­n the existing rental rate.

PC Suria is the sole distributor of computer products produced by Perbadanan Komputer Nasional Bhd (Nascom), a government-backed enterprise.

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