Shafee latest challenger to RPK’s online stature

AUG 14 — Nearly every day last week, Datuk Shafee Abdullah had to field calls from friends, colleagues and fellow lawyers. All the conversations started in the same vein, sans the small talk, with a question: have you read the articles on you by Raja Petra Kamarudin?

After dismissing the articles — which alleged that he was the hidden hand behind the sodomy case against Opposition icon Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim — the prominent lawyer promised to enter unfamiliar territory to clear his name and turn the tables on the blogger who runs the popular website Malaysia Today.

He delivered half of his promise yesterday by seeking and obtaining a rare order from the High Court, so rare that lawyers could not remember the last time any journalist/blogger in Malaysia was directed by the courts to reveal the source or sources of his reports. The order for Raja Petra to reveal the identities of readers who commented on the offending reports is unprecedented.

There have been cases in the United Kingdom and United States where bloggers have been ordered to reveal the identities of those who made defamatory postings on websites. But not in Malaysia.

Justice Datuk Tee Ah Sing also ordered Raja Petra to remove the articles titled "Shafee Abdullah: Sodomologist Extraordinaire''; "Money, Power and Sex: What Motivates Man''; and "The Real Dalang Behind the Anwar Sodomy Allegation.''

His order asking Raja Petra to reveal the sources and identities of those posted comments on his blog will have far-reaching consequences, and could signal a move by the courts here to spell out clearly the boundaries for commentary and comments on blogs and websites. It also comes at a time when government ministers and officials have been calling for closer monitoring of bloggers and tougher action against defamatory articles on the Internet.

Tee's decision will provoke a gush of criticisms in blogosphere, where the prevalent view is that the Bill of Guarantees under the Multimedia Super Corridor provides a shield against any censorship or restriction against the freedom of speech. Lawyers have noted that the laws of defamation apply equally in any sphere, as long as the key ingredients in a defamation charge are made out.

They also believe that Shafee is relying on the Norwich Pharmacal principle to compel Raja Petra to reveal his sources and the identities of those who posted allegedly defamatory comments about him. In 1974, the House of Lords devised the principle to compel individuals or companies to reveal the identities of infringers so that the aggrieved party could take action against them.

By taking this route, Shafee is going for broke and is inviting a fight from Raja Petra, who already has a clutch of court appearances before him. In a statement to the newspapers yesterday, he said: "I have not seen anything more defamatory than what this man has written. None of what he said is true.

"Even someone with a pea-sized brain would realise the preposterousness of the stories Raja Petra has posted on his blog.''

These comments are unlikely to force the blogger into submission. Indeed, it could embolden him and force a standoff.

In the past, he has accused Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and his wife of being involved in the murder of Mongolian model Altantutya Shaariibuu; has accused the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan of being involved in criminal activities and the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail of wrongdoing in the first sodomy case against Anwar in 1998.

He has been charged with criminal defamation for alleging that Datin Rosmah Mansor and two others were present when C4 explosives were used on Altantuya, and has said that the prospect of going to jail does not frighten him.

It is difficult to envisage him yielding to the High Court order and revealing the sources of the three articles or the identities of those who posted comments on his blog by Saturday. It will be seen as nothing less than a capitulation for someone who has built a reputation of taking on all comers.

-TMI