Khairy wants Evidence Act amendments revoked

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has yesterday become the first BN leader to fire potshots at the controversial amendments to the Evidence Act, saying that he is against the new provisions that place the burden of proof on netizens.

“The burden of proof must always be with the accuser, not the accused. I think (the amendment) is not quite right.

“I am uncomfortable with this,” he told journalists after a chit-chat session with the BN Youth volunteers in Kuala Lumpur last night.

Under section 114(a) of the Act, the owner, editor or administrator of a website on which any posting appears - or the owner of the Internet connection or equipment with which the posting was made - is considered the person who made the posting, unless it is proven otherwise.

Critics have argued that the amendments would place the electronic media at a disadvantage, while innocent Internet users and public Wi-Fi providers may be falsely prosecuted over postings made by others.

Objections raised

Khairy, whose regular updates on Twitter is followed by about 122,000 fans, revealed that he had lobbied against the new provisions prior to its passage.

“I raised objections with the attorney-general and de facto law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz before this. Now it’s up to the government to review or revoke the provisions,” he said.

He described the amendments as “quite abnormal”.

Earlier this week, media experts had voiced concerns that restaurant operators in Kuala Lumpur could easily fall victims to the Act as they are required by the local authority, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, to provide WiFi service to patrons.

The operators might as well surrender to the authorities once section 114(a) of the Evidence Act takes effect, noted BFM radio producer Jeff Sandhu.