Muhyiddin(Minister) banned comic book - WHY and HOW? There was no Court Order - simply the Minister's decision. The author, the publisher, etc were not given a right to be heard.
Freedom of Opinion and Freedom of Expression - Does Muhyiddin have no respect for this.
JUSTLY - If a book is to be banned, then the Minister and/or the government ought to go to COURT and get a court order... The persons affected by such a ban should be given a right to be heard before the court makes a decision. Emergency - have to ban now, well, then maybe the court can give an interim(temporary) order just like injunctions, that will last 14 days, and then the court will hear all affected parties and DECIDE.
Therefore, Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and
Publications Act 1984 (PPPA) must be repealed - The power to ban books and/or publication must be a power exercisable by court
7 Undesirable publications
(1) If the Minister is satisfied that any publication contains any article, caricature, photograph, report, notes, writing, sound, music, statement or any other thing which is in any manner prejudicial to or likely to be prejudicial to public order, morality, security, or which is likely to alarm public opinion, or which is or is likely to be contrary to any law or is otherwise prejudicial to or is likely to be prejudicial to public interest or national interest, he may in his absolute discretion by order published in the Gazette prohibit, either absolutely or subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, the printing, importation, production, reproduction, publishing, sale, issue, circulation, distribution or possession of that publication and future publications of the publisher concerned.
Now, the section requires only the Minister to be satisfied - there seems to be no right to be heard, and there seems to be no right to appeal - but this law does not prohibit Judicial Review of the Minister's decision.
TOO MUCH POWER with the Minister(Muhyiddin) - what exactly was the reason for it being 'banned'? So, now all of us who have it has to do what? Burn it?
This draconian provision is part of Legislation, enacted by the previous Barisan Nasional government - This and some other sections must be repealed, and in its place, the following principles should be put in place-
* NO Banning of any books, publication, movies or song without a COURT order* Interim Orders are permissible, but should last no longer than 14 days, before which the court should all parties, including aggrieved parties, before making a final order.
Now, during the time of BN, many books including comic books by Zunar has been banned - are they still banned after Pakatan Harapan came into power?
Are the following books been banned? When?
- ‘Dabiq - The Return of Khalifah’;
- ‘Dabiq - The Flood’;
- ‘Dabiq - A Call
to Hijrah’; and
- ‘Al-Mustaqbal - The Last War (Malhamah Al Kubro)’.
WHY? Because someone has been charged in court for possession of these books...
... Hafiz Othman, 42, after the charge was read out before judge Norashima Khalid.He was charged with having in his possession four magazines associated with the Islamic State militant group namely ‘Dabiq - The Return of Khalifah’; ‘Dabiq - The Flood’; ‘Dabiq - A Call to Hijrah’ and ‘Al-Mustaqbal - The Last War (Malhamah Al Kubro)’.Hafiz was alleged to have committed the offence at a house in Jalan Malim Nawar, Kampung Changkat Baru, Malim Nawar in Kampar at 2.30pm on May 18.
It is wrong for anyone to be charged for being in possession of books that are not banned in Malaysia - Remember the case of Siti Noor Aishah Atam- one of the reasons that the High Court acquitted her without defence being called was because the books were not banned in Malaysia. Sadly, Court of Appeal allowed prosecution's appeal, and the case went back to High Court for trial and she was convicted..
Siti Noor Aishah Atam - victim of SOSMA, found Not Guilty by High Court, then re-detained under POCA?
Siti Noor Aishah Atam - Alasan Penghakiman Mahkamah Tinggi - Mahkamah Bebas Polis Tangkap Lagi Guna POCA??
Siti Noor Aishah - POCA,POTA..dimansuhkan - Resolusi Badan Peguam
Release Siti Noor Aishah Atam from Poca restrictions, kata 36 kumpulan (Malaysiakini, 20/12/2016)
What are the BANNED BOOKS - should not that information be clearly found maybe on the Home Ministry website or maybe even in newspapers?
Minister should not have the power to BAN books and publications - it must be given to courts..
Muhyiddin, a former BN Deputy Prime Minister - is it better to get a Home Minister, who is not before in BN parties, if we want real reforms?
What happened to Zunar's books and other books previously banned by the BN, even books on 1MDB...is it still banned?
Muhyiddin: We've received no request to review ban on Hew's comic book
- Nation
-
Friday, 25 Oct 2019
PONTIAN: The Home Ministry has yet to receive any
official request from any individual to review its decision on the
banned Belt and Road Initiative for Win-Winism comic.
Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said so far he had yet to received a request and had only heard voices on the matter.
"It
is not about punishing anyone, but what's important from the ministry
standpoint is public safety and order where it is much more important.
"The
ministry has to make sure that any form of ideology is not able to
influence our rakyat," he said when met after attending a meeting with
ministry agencies at Pontian police district headquarters here on Friday
(Oct 25).
Muhyiddin was commenting on DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang remark
that Home Ministry had, with the ban on the comic book by former DAP
member Hew Kuan Yau, overstepped Pakatan Harapan's promise to usher in
more freedom for the media.
The MP for Iskandar Puteri came to
Hew's defence, stating that Pakatan, which DAP is a part of, had not
acted correctly in handling the comic book saga.
In a media
statement on Oct 24, Lim said the 49-year-old – an "angry young man"
once – could never be a communist or a promoter of communism.
"I
have known Hew for over three decades since the early years as an
“angry young man”, who was unorthodox and irreverent, to the extent of
being extremely crude and vulgar, causing great embarrassment all round,
in the fight for justice and a better Malaysia.
"And the last thing he would do is to be a communist or to promote communism.
"It
has therefore come as a shock to me that his comic book titled Belt and
Road Initiative for Win-Winism was banned on Wednesday (Oct 23) by the
Home Ministry under Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and
Publications Act 1984 (PPPA) for, among other reasons, promoting
communism and having sympathy for the communist struggle.
"I do
not agree with all of Hew’s thoughts and ideas, and I had not read his
comic book when the controversy blew up, but Hew is neither a communist
nor a communist sympathiser.
"I call on the Home Ministry
officials to review the ban, as the Pakatan Government came into power
on the promise to usher in an era of greater openness without
undermining national security," said Lim.
He said that in the Pakatan manifesto for the last general election, the coalition pledged to repeal oppressive laws like PPPA.
In
the past week, the comic book produced by Hew in collaboration with
local artist Chong Po Ling has created a political furore among Pakatan
Harapan leaders.
It was reportedly distributed to the libraries
of some schools without the knowledge of the authorities, sparking
controversy for bringing politics into the classroom.
The forward was written by Lim Guan Eng, who signed off as Finance Minister and DAP secretary-general. - Star, 25/10/2019
Zunar slams ban on Superman Hew’s comic book
CARTOONIST Zunar today criticised the
Home Ministry’s move to ban former DAP member Superman Hew or Hew Kuan
Yau’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) comic book over its allegedly
communist propaganda.
Zunar, who faced his share of legal tussles over his satirical
cartoons during the tenure of Najib Razak, said parties who find the
content defamatory or seditious should file a civil suit and allow the artist to defend himself instead of imposing a total ban.
Although he has not read the whole comic, the cartoonist said
regardless of whether one agrees with the contents of the comic or not,
it is wrong to ban the book.
“Until today, I haven’t read the whole content of the comic. What I
heard are only hoohaas from the ministers, government institutions and
political parties without being specific about which pages and what
subjects that they are not agreeing with. I would like to make it clear
that personally I may agree or may not agree with the content, but I am
strongly against the banning of the comic,” he said in a statement.
“Cartoons and comics are a matter of interpretation.
If you do not agree with the contents, no problem. But do not use your
interpretation as a law to ban it. Don’t like? Don’t read!”
Legally, the total ban of books is also unacceptable, said Zunar, whose real name is Zulkiflee Anwar Haque.
He also directed the ministry to a Court of Appeal judgment in
October 2014 to lift a ban on his cartoon books. The panel were justice
Mohd Ariff Mohd Yusof (now speaker of the Parliament), Tengku Maimun
Tuan Mat (now the chief justice) and Varughese George, he said.
“Ariff said if persons or institutions are affected by the cartoons,
which may be termed as contemptuous and defamatory, they could have
resorted to suing the appellants instead,” Zunar said.
Suing is a better alternative than an outright ban on the implausible ground of prejudicial to public order, he said.
The ban was immediate for three versions of Belt and Road Initiative
for Win Winism, published in English, Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese.
Hew was called in by police for questioning yesterday.
The Education Ministry had last week said it did not give approval
for the distribution of the comic book in secondary and vernacular
schools after reports that 2,500 copies in Bahasa Malaysia were
distributed to school libraries as reference material.
The comic book was featured in a photograph posted by Hew on his
Facebook page showing Chinese President Xi Jinping reading it during a
meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in April in conjunction
with the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. – October 24, 2019. - Malaysian Insight
Restaurant worker charged with possession of terrorism-related publications
25 Oct 2019 / 12:53 H.
Hafiz
Othman, a restaurant worker was charged in the Ipoh Sessions Court
today with possession of terrorism-related publications.
IPOH: A restaurant worker was charged in the Sessions Court here today with possession of terrorism-related publications.
However, no plea was recorded from Hafiz Othman, 42, after the charge was read out before judge Norashima Khalid.
He
was charged with having in his possession four magazines associated
with the Islamic State militant group namely ‘Dabiq - The Return of
Khalifah’; ‘Dabiq - The Flood’; ‘Dabiq - A Call to Hijrah’ and
‘Al-Mustaqbal - The Last War (Malhamah Al Kubro)’.
Hafiz was
alleged to have committed the offence at a house in Jalan Malim Nawar,
Kampung Changkat Baru, Malim Nawar in Kampar at 2.30pm on May 18.
The
charge, framed under Section 130JB(1)(a) of the Penal Code carries a
maximum seven years’ jail or a fine and the right for the displayed
offensive items to be removed, upon conviction.
The accused was represented by lawyer Mohamad Asif Mohd Noor.
Earlier, Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Izhanudin Alias requested the case to be transferred to the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
Judge Norashima granted the prosecution’s request.
On
May 30, Hafiz was charged in the Sessions Court in Sepang, Selangor
with having gone to Sinai, in Egypt with the intention to carry out
terrorist acts.
He was alleged to have committed the offence at
Gate C1, Satellite Terminal of the KL International Airport (KLIA) at
6.05pm last May 17.
Hafiz was charged under Section 130 JA of the
Penal Code which carries a maximum jail term of 30 years, and shall
also be liable to fine, if found guilty. — Bernama - Sun Daily, 25/10/2019
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