DAP today urged the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) to set up a new working group on press freedom to arrest the alarming erosion of the rights to freedom of speech and expression in the past year.
Party national chairperson Lim Kit Siang said this proposed working group, apart from the four existing ones, is to receive and investigate complaints of violations of press freedom by journalists and the public.
He added the two-year-old Suhakam had largely neglected press freedom, an aspect of human rights, during the time when former deputy prime minister Musa Hitam was the commissions chairperson.
The time has come for Suhakam to give a special focus on the freedom of speech and expression which is described as the mother of all freedoms, he said in a statement.
Suhakam currently has four working groups on different sectors education; law reform; treaties and international instruments; and complaints and inquiries. However, minor changes have reportedly been made to the working groups recently though the details have yet to be disclosed.
DPM criticised
Lim also took a swipe at Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for not producing any results since hundreds of local journalists called for the repeal of several media laws three years ago, particularly the Printing Presses and Publications Act which requires all periodicals to renew their permits annually.
Abdullah had then given a solemn undertaking to the journalists that he would give their call serious consideration. What is the outcome of such serious consideration after three years? he questioned.
Lim said the journalists chose to put forward their wish in a memorandum, signed by some 600 peers, to Abdullah on the World Press Freedom Day in 1999 because there were hopes that the minister would accord priority to restore public confidence in the government .
The memorandum was later endorsed by another 400 signatures from journalists and was presented again to Abdullah on the World Press Freedom Day the following year.
Earlier today, a group of 40 journalists from various news organisations submitted the memorandum at Suhakam office to its commissioner, Prof Hamdan Adnan, in an effort to renew their vow for abolishing the PPPA.
At a two-hour session with the commissioner, the participants also voiced out their grievances for having to cope with self-censorship and unreasonable instructions from higher, non-editorial authorities.
Tabloid suspension
On a related matter, Lim said the three-month suspension of the weekly tabloid Perdana Sari by the Home Affairs Ministry since yesterday has raised several public concerns.
He said the publisher of the tabloid, Khalid Jafri, should be charged in court for the offence of false news if the tabloid was guilty of misreporting.
Is the ministry setting a precedent to take actions, including immediate suspension of national dailies and other publications, if they publish sensational allegations against political leaders? he questioned.
Perdana Sari recently publsihed a series of articles alleging that Puteri Umno chief Azalina Othman Said was a lesbian who had misused her position to buy luxurious items for her lover.
In 1998, Khalid had penned the book which outlined 50 reasons why former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim could not become prime minister shortly before the latter was sacked and subsequently jailed for sodomy and corruption.
Meanwhile, Lim said he agreed with parliamentary secretary to the information ministry Zainuddin Maidin who said yesterday that journalists and academics should redefine press freedom according to domestic needs instead of trying to be the dog of the western media imperialists .
However, the opposition leader asked, Is Zainuddin prepared to agree with me that this should not be an excuse for them to become the dog of local media oppressors?
