You know your country is run by idiots when this happens!

Utusan gets a warning letter...

While this comics gets banned for "tendency to (cause) hatred and excite disaffection"

The Home Ministry today issued a reprimand letter to Utusan Malaysia over the daily's front page article on May 7, titled Kristian Agama Rasmi? (Christianity the official religion?).

A reprimand letter requires no follow up action by the newspaper, as compared with a demand to show cause, and is akin to just a slap on the wrist.

According to a Home Ministry statement, Utusan's editor-in-chief Aziz Ishak was called and the letter handed to him. "The Home Ministry will continue to monitor every newspaper in order to prevent news which would menggemparkan (infuriate) the minds of the people or material that is against the PPPA 1984," the statement said.

The article alleged that a group of pastors had participated in a gathering in Penang recently, which involved DAP elected representatives, where they discussed a plot to turn Malaysia into a Christian country and install a Christian prime minister.

No evidence of this allegation was offered by Utusan, who sourced the story from two pro-Umno blogs. One of the two had deleted article that was sourced by Utusan.

Utusan's critics however are likely to point out that the daily, which is owned by Umno, enjoy impunity and always gets away with a mere light reprimand while other dailies have received suspension of printing licenses or have it withdrawn altogether.

For example, Higher Education Deputy Minister Wee Ka Siong wrote on Twitter after the home ministry statement was issued, that in the case of China Press editor-in-chief Teoh Yoog Khoon, he was suspended two weeks over an inaccurate news report.

"(The China Press) report did not cause disharmony among Malaysians of all races. Many people will compare the damage caused by Utusan's report to (that) of China Press.

In Teoh's case, the home ministry had issued a show cause letter over an article which claimed that the then Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan would quit in March last year.

Following this, Home Ministry Deputy Chief Secretary Ahmad Fuad Ab Aziz said that any follow up action would be left to China Press' management.

Police reports lodged

Unlike the China Press incident, many police reports have been lodged against Utusan over the article for flouting sedition laws among others. Bukit Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi, who was named in the article, have also lodged a police report.

Meanwhile yesterday (11 May 2011)..

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today heard that two books by cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaq were banned by the Home Ministry because they contain "terrible accusations" which could lead to public disorder.

In his submission on the judicial review application by the cartoonist popularly known as Zunar against the Home Ministry, federal counsel Noor Hisham Ismail said the books are also seen as an "extreme insult to national leadership".

"The books can't cause public disturbance but there is potential that the people who read it could be likely (influenced).” He added the minister is satisfied that the book has "tendency to (cause) hatred and excite disaffection" towards national leaders, the judiciary and enforcement agencies.

Noor Hisham is representing respondents Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and his deputy Abu Seman Yusuf in a judicial review of the ban imposed on '1Funny Malaysia' and 'Perak Darul Kartun'.

Both books were banned in November 2009.

Noor Hisham also submitted that there is no room for a judicial review as the court does not have the right to examine or challenge the minister's “satisfaction that the books are prejudicial to public order”. “If the matter rests solely on the subjective decision of the minister... and involves opinion and policy then the court should not review the decision. “It seems apparent that when it comes to issues of national security and public order the court cannot intervene by way of a judicial review as it involves policy considerations,” he said, citing case law.
Public order or politicians' reputation?

K Shanmuga, representing the plaintiffs, submitted that in the book ban notice, the minister stated that the books were banned because they are “prejudicial to public order” and not “likely to be prejudicial”.

“It might be worth recalling that the books in question were in publication for almost eight months before their ban, yet there was no evidence whatsoever that any breach of the peace occurred or was threatened as a result of the book. “By failing to produce material evidence of any reports before the minister which he relied on or in any of the affidavits filed before the court, the minister must be deemed to have no good reason for his decision.

“It is all to protect the image of politicians and their reputation,” he said. Shanmuga added that the law requires decisions made by the minister to be “reasonable and proportionate” and that the books cannot be banned “simply for saying not very nice things about politicians and the government of Malaysia”.

“Would a reasonable minister feel there is a threat to public order from cartoons, political satire, and ban the whole book due to several offending pages?” he said.

Commenting on the proceedings later, Zunar (second from right), who was accompanied by his wife Fazlinah Rosley (in blue), questioned the validity of Noor Hisham's submission, particularly when the latter claimed that the minister concluded that the books “tarnished the rakyat's trust in the government”.

“You can only lose something you have. The people who read my books have already lost trust in the government,” he said. Judge Rohana Yusuf will be delivering her verdict on July 14.