Charges against Papagomo too harsh, says Lip Eng
Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng has called for the attorney-general Tommy Thomas to reconsider the charges against blogger Papagomo who was hauled to court over alleged insults and assault of a minister.
The blogger Papagomo, whose real name is Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, was slapped with two charges yesterday - one for intending to insult the modesty of the Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman by saying to him “ko bodoh" (you are stupid), and the other for voluntarily causing hurt to the minister.
Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur today, the DAP lawmaker says he disagrees with the charges, which were under Section 509 of the Penal Code...
Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng has called for the attorney-general Tommy Thomas to reconsider the charges against blogger Papagomo who was hauled to court over alleged insults and assault of a minister.
The blogger Papagomo, whose real name is Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, was slapped with two charges yesterday - one for intending to insult the modesty of the Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman by saying to him “ko bodoh" (you are stupid), and the other for voluntarily causing hurt to the minister.
Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur today, the DAP lawmaker says he disagrees with the charges, which were under Section 509 of the Penal Code.
“If we read the penal code, it says 'words and gesture that can insult the modesty of a person’, does the word ‘stupid’ insult the modesty of our minister?
“I don’t think so. As a modern country, we have to move forward to a more advance, more open society. We must stop this regression of law,” he urged.
He reiterated that he was not encouraging the use of such words, but simply pointing out that the word 'stupid' is rude and impolite - not a criminal offence.
“You cannot make this into criminal offence. Cannot,” he said.
Both the offences were allegedly committed by a roadside at Persiaran Impian Perdana, Saujana Impian, at 11.05am last Feb 16, during the Semenyih by-election campaign.
Lim also questioned the difference in how fast the authorities act on reports, comparing the Papagomo case, which took less than two weeks to go to court, and several cases of alleged crimes involving police officers.
Earlier, Lim had lodged an MACC report over alleged inefficiency of investigations on rape and robbery reports made against police officers as well as claims of bribery within the police force in Bukit Aman.
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