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Malaysian Blogger Ordered to Give Up Sources
Popular Malaysian political blogger Raja Petra Raja
Kamarudin (known in the blogosphere as RPK) was ordered to reveal his
sources for three articles alleging that attorney Muhammad Shafee Abdullah
fabricated sodomy charges against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, the Associated
Press reports.
The order, secured Wednesday, requires RPK to remove the
articles from his Web site, Malaysia Today, and give up the
identities of all the visitors who commented on the stories. Following the
advice of one commenter, who suggested the lawyer sue RPK "for libel or
whatever," Shafee also filed a defamation suit (RPK's second).
Using the ever-popular liar liar pants-on-fire defense, Shafee insists that RPK
made the whole thing up.
According to
RPK, the set-up comes from the top: Prime Minister "Abdullah is the hidden
hand and Shafee is the henchman who was tasked with the job of implementing the
evil deed." But that's not all -- the blogger
also explains why someone who already has plenty of money and a healthy sex
life would get so involved in a government frame-job:
Okay, so we can rule out money and
sex. But what about power? What if he is slated to be the next Attorney-General
and whether he gets the job or not depends on how successfully he can
neutralise Anwar and remove him as a threat to Umno?
It wasn't the articles alone that have Shafee up in arms.
According to the AP, the lawyer intends to go after each and every commenter
who defamed him in their responses to the articles -- not surprising, given the
insults that were thrown around, like "crooks" and "maggot breath mouths."
RPK isn't the only blogger facing legal heat in the region this year. In early June we wrote about California-based lawyer Gopalan Nair, a Singapore native, who was arrested and "charged in a Singapore court over comments he
made on his blog and in an e-mail that were critical of the judge
presiding over a defamation case."
Posted by Nicole White on August 14, 2008 at 03:07 PM | Permalink
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