A public forum o­n the impact of the Sedition Act o­n press freedom will be held tomorrow at the Bar Council auditorium in the Loke Yew building opposite Bank Pertanian (Menara Patriot).

Organised by the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and the National Human Rights Society (Hakam), the forum will be held between 3pm and 5pm.

"We are shocked by the police raid at malaysiakini. We believe the public needs to know more about press freedom and limitations imposed upon it by laws such as the Sedition Act," said CIJ spokesperson Sonia Randhawa ( photo ).

Among the speakers at the forum will be prominent human rights and constitutional lawyer Raja Aziz Addruse. Raja Aziz is also a former Hakam president and former Bar Council chairperson.

Other speakers include Dr Mohd Safar Hasim from Universiti Sains Malaysia's media studies and communication, JUST executive committee member K Haridas and malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan.

Gan, who is facing police investigation under the Sedition Act, will be briefing the public o­n the latest situation involving malaysiakini .

The forum is organised in the wake of the controversial police raid and seizure of 19 computers from malaysiakini 's office in Bangsar Utama, Kuala Lumpur o­n Monday following a police report lodged by Umno Youth o­n Jan 17 against the o­nline media over a letter published o­n the website.

Umno Youth claimed that the letter, published o­n Jan 9, contained seditious elements that could create chaos in the country.

Identity sought

A team of about 10 police officers from the Dang Wangi district police headquarters, Computer Crimes Unit from Cheras and national police headquarters Bukit Aman visited malaysiakini o­n Monday, to investigate the matter and to seek the identity of the letter writer.

Following malaysiakini 's refusal to reveal the identity of the letter writer based o­n professional ethics, the police officers led by Supt Mohd Kamaruddin Md Din from Computer Crimes Unit and investigation officer ASP Alfazny Ahmad ordered the seizure of 15 cental processing units (CPUs) and four servers.

This seriously crippled malaysiakini 's operations and the website was o­nly back o­nline again after a 10-hour hiatus, with the assistance of a backup server and donations of computers by friends of malaysiakini .

Gan and four other senior editorial staff were also called in for questioning by the police o­n Tuesday and Wednesday. The police have since returned nine CPUs and o­ne server.

The raid and seizure of the equipment by the police saw a wave of public protest.

Among those that issued protest statements include the 10,000-strong Malaysian Bar, Aliran, Hakam, Suaram and international organisations the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance and London-based Amnesty International.

Hours after the raid o­n Monday, about 200 people gathered in front of malaysiakini office to hold a candlelight vigil.

Public forum: Press freedom and sedition

Time: 3-5pm, Saturday, Jan 25

Place: Bar Council Auditorium, Loke Yew building

Near Dataran Merdeka, opposite Bank Pertanian (Menara Patriot)

Entry to forum is by donation.

For further information contact Sonia Randhawa at 03-2284 0235

and Yoon Szu Mae at 03-2283 5567.