Malaysia is following the Singaporean modus operandi in using lawsuits as a form of suppression every time the government does not agree with what the press has published.

Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan said it is very hard to fight lawsuits as they cost money and those sued sometimes have to stand against 'the most powerful man in the country.'

He said the decision to choose to fight in court should never be lightly made and lawsuits should only be a last resort - not the first choice - if you did not agree with the media.

"'We gave Najib the right of reply. He did not accept our offer. Lawsuits are being used as another layer of attack on press freedom.

"It is very hard to defend ourselves. This is compounded by the fact that the judiciary, like it or not, is not known to be independent.

"How are you going to fight against the PM (prime minister)? You don't expect him (the judge) to go against the most powerful man in the country," said Gan during an 'Independence of the Press' forum held in Kuala Lumpur today.

His sentiment was shared by Sinar Harian chief editor Abdul Jalil Ali ( photo ) who recounted the tale of one lawsuit which cost his organisation about a million ringgit in costs and eight years before they finally won.

Abide by the law

He said there is nothing to worry about as long as the media abide by the law.

“We believed what we published to be right and true. So we went to court and it took us eight years. But at the end of the day, we proved that our reporting was true and we won.

“(So) as long as we follow the law, I think it should be okay,” he said when questioned about the lawsuits filed against the media.

Commending Malaysiakini , which he said often reflects the voice of the people, Abdul Jalil called upon those who think that the news presented to be inaccurate to file lawsuits rather than resorting to harassment.

He stressed that the arrests of The Malaysian Insider and The Edge editors are a form of harassment.

"They (the editors) should not be arrested. Police just need to call. If the news report is not correct, then take us to the court, do not harass us," said Abdul Jalil, who took a more benign stance on lawsuits.

“Similarly like Sinar Harian , we do criticise the government, we publish about Mahathir (criticism of the government)... but to what extent we can really criticise the government... Sometimes we are confused,” he said.

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