your say 'If history cannot be debated openly, then it is not history but propaganda written in the figment of imagination of men.'

Mat Sabu charged with criminal defamation

Vijay47: We Malaysians must admit that whatever we do, we do with enough flair to capture the world's attention.

While all this may be conducive to our penchant for having the most number of records in the world, it hardly enhances our image and in particular, that of the gentleman who only last week crowed about how he was going to initiate changes to make Malaysia the best democracy in the world.

Perhaps a better description would be "best democrazy" - after all, this is sheer madness.

While on the topic, former chief justice Zaki Azmi has boasted as to how impartial his judges were. If they were indeed fair and had some minimal legal foundation, they would have thrown out the Mat Sabu charge and in fact, literally thrown the book at the prosecuting officer for gross abuse of power.

It would be interesting to see what the third stooge, the inspector-general of police, has to say about this.

Kee Thuan Chye: How can Mat Sabu be charged for defaming the dead? You can't defame the dead. Or for defaming the families of the dead policemen who defended Bukit Kepong? You can't defame a group of people.

If so, every time you say lawyers are crooks, you'd be hauled up for defamation. Worse, how can he be charged for defaming the people who lodged police reports against his remarks? He did not defame them.

Does the attorney-general know the law or not? Is this a case of simply ‘tembak' (shoot) in order to deceive the ignorant, aimed at people who don't know the law so as to demonise Mat Sabu and score points for BN?

Abil: A very interesting charge indeed - "defaming the dead". Can the dead people come to court to challenge the truth against Mat Sabu? Mat Sabu, you have created history for being the first person to defame the dead and be charged.

Ben-ghazi: Now, who defames who here? Why doesn't the person defamed take a legal action against Mat Sabu? That's because no one was defamed by Mat Sabu.

If anything, Mat Sabu was trying to clear a dead person's name who was defamed by the BN government and Umno (once a stooge of the British).

Talking about defamation, hasn't Anwar Ibrahim been defamed left and right, front and back, above and below since he was ousted by ex-PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Swipenter: Airing and giving a different interpretation of a historical incident can land you with a charge of criminal defamation?

This is nothing but blatant attempt to curb freedom of expression. Is this going to be the "best democracy" that the Najib administration is talking about?

Eclee: This is just an abuse of the court process. You just cannot charge a person who disagrees with your interpretation and version of history.

Artchan: At least, we can have the chance to rewrite history with the help of the courts. I am sure there will be many historians and pseudo-historians called to testify. And this will sure be a milestone in Malaysian history.

Rickee: David Irving, who was charged, was not so much as having denied the Holocaust, he was an active Holocaust denier, anti-Semitic and racist.

He has been sowing anti-Semitism , racism by publishing books and giving speeches widely dealing with it, his denial of the Holocaust is tied to his anti-Semitism and racism. He was also actively promoting anti-Semitism and racism by speech and publication.

Is there a parallel between his case and Mat Sabu's? Has Mat Sabu been sowing seeds of anti-anything and racism?

Sodom Me Sodom You: History is a topic that needs to debated as there is always several sides to the story.

And just the other day, PM Najib Razak said we are going to be the best democracy. Yet we are going to waste more precious time and money on media circuses like this. When will all this end?

We, the people, are so freaking tired of all this stupidity. Najib, tak sempoi langsung lah ...

Patriot: No action taken against cheating, dishonest and thieving politicians from BN but the police are quick to pounce on the opposition at the slightest opportunity. ISA or no ISA, there will not be any difference.

An issue that can be debated logically and sensibly, is now being used to regain declining BN support for all the wrong reasons. The government has reached a stage where it cannot think and behave in a rational manner.

Ferd Tan: The absolute power of the attorney-general must be checked and be made accountable. He seems to report to no one except the PM and a few top henchmen in the cabinet.

In fact, Mohd Nazri Aziz is acting as a de facto law minister in the PM's Department. But he sometimes deflects any hard questions in Parliament to the AG.

Since the AG is not responsible and accountable to Parliament, he usually thumbs his nose to all who criticise him by keeping silence.

Why don't we bring back the portfolio of 'law minister' who is also an AG (previous law minister Abdul Kadir Yusuf was one such person)?

This is the most democratic way to make sure the AG is accountable to the people by way of Parliament. This would stop him from being a stooge of the government.

Isa@1penyu: As usual, Pakatan Rakyat is shooting from the hips and creating unnecessary issues when they can come out with other plans for the nation. But what to do with small brains like Mat Sabu and M Manoharan, who only talk about the past and the colours of our flag.

It looks like Pakatan has got nothing much to offer except such rhetoric.

Anon_3b56: Don't treat us as imbeciles. Certain people and BN-linked media are free to speak on anything seditious or unsubstantiated, but without being charged in court.

If history cannot be debated openly, then it is not history but propaganda written in the figment of imagination of men.

Docs: Mat Sabu has just be elevated to ‘hero' status thanks to Umno's decision to take him to court for criminal defamation on his interpretation of the Bukit Kepong insident.

I'm sure this criminal defamation suit will be helpful to Mat Sabu's political career and elevate his political status.

The last opposition politician to receive this ‘hero' status at the hands of Umno was PSM's Dr Michael D Jeyakumar after he was arrested under the Emergency Ordinance for the Bersih protest.

Wfworker: We have to ask ourselves, can desperate men think rationally? No doubt, such opinion may upset some people emotionally, but hasn't Ibrahim Ali's opinion also upset many people? Or is it that Ibrahim's opinion is in line with that of BN?

Tholu: So now the judges are requested by the police to do research on history and decide whether Mat Sabu was talking facts or corrupting history. Incredulous!

 

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