Negara-negara Asia Yang Dikawal Kebebasan Berinternet | Bersuara

Sumber

The case of Raja Petra Kamarudin, Malaysia's best-known blogger, reveals a different approach. The 58-year-old prince, or raja, in one of Malaysia's royal families started his fiesty Malaysia Today news Web site a decade ago after the arrest of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on sodomy charges, which Mr. Anwar denied. Mr. Anwar was convicted, jailed until the conviction was overturned, and is now being prosecuted again on sodomy charges, which he again is denying.

Since launching his Web site, Raja Petra has been a thorn in the side of Malaysia's ruling National Front coalition, posting a series of articles notable for their criticism of the government. His postings led to his detention for nearly two months under the Internal Security Act in 2008.

Malaysian authorities have accused Raja Petra of suggesting in a letter to prosecutors investigating the murder of a Mongolian model in 2006 that Prime Minister Najib Razak was involved in the killing, which Mr. Najib denies. Raja Petra was charged with sedition and went into hiding. He says the charge is misdirected because he didn't publish the letter, though he admits writing it and stands by its contents.

Malaysian government spokesman Tengku Sharifuddin Tengku Ahmad declined to comment about Raja Petra's allegations, and he didn't respond to questions about the broader issues surrounding Malaysia's approach to censorship.

Malaysia's government is careful not to be seen to be directly censoring the Internet because of a longstanding pledge not to interfere online and potentially scare off foreign technology companies, such as Microsoft Corp., which operate there.

In August, Mr. Najib's government backed off from implementing Web filters similar to those used in China to weed out political topics and other contentious discussions. It has also considered requiring that bloggers register with the government, but decided not to implement the rule.

Instead, says Raja Petra, Malaysia's authorities are using criminal laws "to make an example of me so that others will run away from the truth," although he says their efforts will backfire. "Other bloggers are becoming more vocal and more aggressive." - Web Censoring Widens Across Southeast Asia

Hanief: Berikut merupakan petikan yang saya ambil dari Wall Street Journal. Ia memberitakan mengenai kurangnya kebebasan berinternet/bersuara.

Kes Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK) disentuh, iaitulah kes akuan bersumpah yang membabitkan pembunuhan penterjemah dari Mongolia dan juga kes liwat (kedua) Anwar Ibrahim. Menurut berita ini, kebebasan dalam internet ini sangat dikehendaki dalam mengetahui banyak perkara yang cuba ditapis kerajaan.

Lebih menarik, Malaysia disifatkan mahu mengambil tindakan tegas ke atas penulis blog seperti RPK, tetapi negara kita (di bawah pimpinan Najib Tun Razak) terpaksa akur dengan perjanjian bersama Microsoft. Microsoft mahukan internet berstatus bebas dan tidak ditapis.

RPK juga berkata, beliau kini cuba diprojekkan kerajaan sebagai seorang yang lari dari menerima hukuman. Beliau juga percaya kerajaan kini sedang menerima tempias projek itu, berikutan kini para penulis blog sudah menjadi semakin lantang dan agresif dalam menyuarakan suara-suara mereka.

p/s: Kalau pemerintah adil, negara maju dan ekonomi berkembang. Hendak buang internet pun saya tak kisah. Haha... Kalaulah...