The call for the enactment of laws to ensure and protect the public's freedom to information has long been made and organisers and participants of a national workshop in Kuala Lumpur said today that the time is ripe now to get them legislated.

Toby Mendel, the Law/Asia Programmes Director of Article 19, a London-based organisation which campaigns for freedom of expression, said that many countries - both western and Asian - are passing laws recognising their citizens' right to access 'public information'.

"The idea of freedom of information (FOI) is reflected when the public have access to public information and when the government holds information not for itself but for the citizen," he told the workshop of 65 participants.

The two-day National Workshop on Freedom of Information Legislation is jointly-organised by local non-government organisation Suaram, Article 19 and Forum-Asia, a regional human rights advocacy organisation.

Mendel went on to characterise areas of public information and added that a recent analysis showed Malaysia as not having FOI laws but rather possesses restrictive laws which curb the freedom of expression and information.

More restrictive laws

"The Official Secrets Act denies the public access to information as officials use it (the law) to decide on which information is secret or isn't...," he told the participants who included international dignitaries, lawyers, activist and media practitioners.

Suhakam Commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan, in his keynote speech, backed Mendel's assertions on Malaysian laws.

"In Malaysia, not only the right to freedom of speech and expression is not absolute, there are also other restrictive laws such as the Internal Security Act 1960, Official Secrets Act 1972, Sedition act 1949, Defamation Act 1957 and Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984," he said.

Suaram executive director Cynthia Gabriel referred to the Malaysian prime minister's promise of a clean government and urged the government to get on par with international standards of FOI legislation and human rights.

"The timing is right to legislate FOI laws and Suaram will continue to push for it given our interests in human rights as (FOI) is a fundamental human right," she said at a press conference later.

She added that government ministers were invited but declined to participate in the workshop, which is funded by the European Commission and which aims to discuss and strengthen the move to secure effective FOI laws.

Mendel added that they were not making calls for the government to release "every piece of information to the public" but to acknowledge that there are legitimate reasons for information to be regulated by law and not be held under the powers of discretion.

Findings to be released

Tomorrow is the 'International Right to Know Day' and the organisers and speakers are hoping that its significance will bring positive development to their efforts in lobbying the Malaysian government to emulate Sweden, the first country to enact FOI laws in 1776.

The workshop aims is to bring together international law experts, NGO activists, media practitioners and freedom of information specialists to discuss the importance of securing the right to information through effective legislation.

Findings and proposals from the workshop will be released on Wednesday.