Printing Presses and Publications Act amendments mere cosmetic changes, says DAP

Amendments to the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA) are mere cosmetic changes, charged the DAP, since media practitioners can still be punished for publishing ‘false news’.

Its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng pointed out today that the government has overlooked Section 8A which states ‘malice should be presumed’ unless there is evidence to prove otherwise, and that this provision can still be used to clamp down on the opposition.

Citing his conviction under this provision in 1998, where he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, Lim said the Act can still be used to persecute party organs.

“I spent 18 months in Kajang prison. I know what it was like. I don’t think the offence should carry a criminal penalty,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

“If false news is printed, then we can go after (people) for damages and compensation, (but) not in this manner. Section 8A was used and can be used again a weapon to quell dissent... it is like having the Sword of Damocles hanging over your head.”

Lim had been arrested in 1994 for criticising the way the government had handled allegations of statutory rape against former Malacca chief minister Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik.

The allegations against Abdul Rahim (left) were dropped, but Lim - then the Kota Melaka MP - was charged under the Sedition Act 1948 for causing "disaffection with the administration of justice in Malaysia".

He was also charged under Section 8A of the PPPA for "maliciously printing" a pamphlet containing allegedly "false information" in relation to the rape survivor.

This provides for a prison term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding RM20,000 or both.

"For the purposes of this section, malice shall be presumed in default of evidence showing that, prior to publication, the accused took reasonable measures to verify the truth of the news,” the clause states.

"No prosecution for an offence under this section shall be initiated without the consent in writing of the Public Prosecutor."

‘Political motive’

Lim said provisions of the Penal Code are sufficient to handle cases of irresponsible journalism.

"(Umno-owned) Utusan Malaysia continues to write false news about me every other week, but I don't think they should be prosecuted under Section 8A. I pursued the case under criminal defamation and I was awarded RM250,000 in damages last year,” he said.

"Although I hope the same fate does not affect Utusan, why isn't the government prosecuting the newspaper for publishing false news?"

Such charges, Lim said, are typically politically motivated.

Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran, who was with Lim, lashed out at the reforms as a "halfhearted measures".      

"(Unbridled) discretion is given to the attorney-general and all these years, there has been double standards in punishing offenders," he said.

On the amendments to the PPPA that were tabled today, Lim urged the government to also list the criteria for permit applications.