COMMENT Two events which happened this week may alter the course of where our beloved country is heading to.

 

One is the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST). We all saw that coming. It will affect all Malaysians. The other is the arrest of The Malaysian Insider editors under the Sedition Act. I did not see that coming although I am not surprised. This of course will affect the media as a whole.

 

GST will be felt by all of us as the days go by. For now, allow me to say something about the attack on the media which is not only disturbing but outright wrong.

 

Persecution of journalists and editors is nothing new. We know what happened during Operasi Lalang in 1987. The stories are well documented and those who were affected by it will relate to you the sufferings they had to endure as if it happened yesterday.

 

I was not affected by Operasi Lalang. But some of us journalists who joined the mainstream media in 90s would have heard those stories in graphic details told by editors or senior writers while our news articles were being cleared or edited.

 

Some were detained under Internal Security Act (ISA) and others had to suffer when several mainstream dailies were shut down after their publishing licences were revoked.

 

They drove taxis to make ends meet. They became pasar malam traders and did other odd jobs. A small bunch of them even went all the way to New Zealand to look for work. They have to. They have housing loans and car loans to pay. They have children to feed.

 

Fast forward to now, what has really changed?

 

The clamping down on the media and press freedom continues. Should they not be left alone to do their jobs? Surely there must be a better way to handle these matters.

 

Stop the persecution

 

All I am asking from the authorities is to have some compassion. It is what every religion in the world preaches. Yes, you can say that the law is there, so you are using it. But why use the sedition law in the first place?

 

If the article written is not true, you can ask them to retract and demand an apology. If the apology is not forthcoming, the aggrieved party can take appropriate actions.

 

One example is the law of defamation, the principles of which are well established in this country. There are case authorities right up to the Federal Court. In such cases, the editors will have the defences of justification, qualified privilege and fair comment available to them.

 

Let the editors tell their side of the story on why and how the article came to be written. Even if the article turns up to be false, they did not intentionally lie. It is preposterous to make such a claim.

 

They must have verified their story. It was based on sources which they trusted and should be protected. Why do they have to suffer for doing their job and trusting their journalistic instincts?

 

So I plead to the authorities. Stop the persecution of the media. Stop using the very law our dear prime minister once promised to abolish. It simply does not look good, for the people and for the country. What you are doing may be legally right, but morally it is wrong.

 

So ladies and gentlemen, please remember these names: Amin Shah Iskandar, Lionel Morais, Zulkifli Sulong, Jahabar Sadiq and Ho Kay Tat.

 

If they are charged under the Sedition Act and convicted, they are likely to be counting bars. They will suffer and so will their families. One day they will have more bitter stories to tell our future journalists.

 

 

G JEGATHESAN was a journalist with The Sun prior to pursuing a career in law. He has just returned to the world of journalism after a 16-year hiatus.