'Wrong, IGP has tolerance for Umno's sedition'
"Any sane Malaysian must be mad to believe the IGP’s claims that the police has no tolerance of sedition when he practices such blatant double standards and selective prosecution.
"The IGP may be proud to be called mad when he launches such arbitrary and high-handed arrests. However, there is no method in his madness except abuse of power and targeting only those who oppose his political masters, BN," he said.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng today slammed the police for declaring that there would be no tolerance for sedition, pointing out that there appears to be plenty of tolerance when it comes to Umno leaders.
"Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar is madly lying and tweeting that the police have adopted a "no tolerance" policy on sedition when no action is taken against Umno leaders who make seditious, false and provocative remarks against non-Muslims and non-Malays," Lim said in a statement today.
Khalid ( left ) had made the declaration after police arrested five staff from The Malaysian Insider and The Edge Group over the last 24 hours following a report by the news portal claiming the Conference of Malay Rulers had rejected hudud law.
Lim pointed out that no action was taken against Umno's Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob for accusing Chinese traders of not reducing the prices of their goods and calling for a boycott of their businesses.
Likewise, Lim said Umno's former deputy minister Mashitah Ibrahim was also let off for falsely claiming that members of the Chinese community in Kedah had burnt the Quran even though it was later shown that the act was done by an unstable Muslim man.
Both leaders were called in by police to have their statements recorded but no arrests were made nor was there any further action.
Lim also noted that Umno Permatang Pauh Division chief Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said was similarly let off for claiming the Chinese community in Penang made their money through illegal activities.
'Where is freedom of the press?'
"Any sane Malaysian must be mad to believe the IGP’s claims that the police has no tolerance of sedition when he practices such blatant double standards and selective prosecution.
"The IGP may be proud to be called mad when he launches such arbitrary and high-handed arrests ( pix below ). However, there is no method in his madness except abuse of power and targeting only those who oppose his political masters, BN," he said.
"To arrest and put them under remand is an exercise in excessive victimisation, harassment and hounding of journalists doing their job.
"Where is freedom of the press when those who write negative or wrong news about the BN government are immediately punished with unnecessary and unreasonable periods of detention?" he asked.
The five arrested were TMI Executive Director Jahabar Sadiq, Managing Editor Lionel Morais, Senior Editors Amin Shah Iskandar and Zulkifli Sulong and The Edge publisher Ho Kay Tat.
They are being probed under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1988 and Section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948.
Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 concerns the improper use of network facilities or network service which is punishable with a fine of up to RM50,000 or imprisonment up to a year or both.
Section 4 concerns the uttering, publication, importing of seditious material or committing acts that have seditious tendency which is punishable with a fine of up to RM5,000 or imprisonment up to three years or both.
Measures counter-productive
If this is the standard used by police to deal the media, then the pro-BN media does not appear to be accorded the same treatment, Lim further said.
"I have won countless defamation suits against Utusan Malaysia and New Straits Times (NST) and yet no Utusan or NST journalist has hard to suffer what TMI has to endure from the harsh tactics of the IGP.
"Taking such harsh measures against journalists is counter-productive and will only give Malaysia another international black eye for not practicing what the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak preaches on freedom and moderation," said Lim.
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