Shafee to also sue commenters on RPK’s news portal

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 — Having filed a defamation suit against Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin yesterday, Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah vowed today to sue commenters he alleges have defamed him on the website.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insider today, the prominent lawyer said the landmark order would put a stop to "this nonsense of anonymous commenting with vulgarities at will".

"These monkeys are all cowards, writing nonsense under the guise of anonymity with no respect for the truth," he added.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday directed Raja Petra, popularly known as RPK, to reveal the identities of commenters who Shafee alleged had defamed him in three articles published on the website. The articles are the basis of Shafee's defamation suit against the controversial blogger.

According to Shafee, it was the first time it had happened in Malaysia but such orders have been issued in England and the US.

"I cited the specific comments and the court has approved each citation. This landmark order will make everyone responsible for what they write online," Shafee clarified.

When quizzed over what information RPK could furnish him with due to the anonymous nature of these commenters, Shafee said: "You have to register to be able to comment on RPK's site. So he will at least have their e-mail addresses. I will compel the owners of these addresses to show who has sent these comments."

The ex-parte injunction also instructed RPK to reveal his sources for the allegations made in the articles against Shafee.

"He knows these sources from my office so he should tell me who they are and why these sources are reliable. Under our law, there is no protection for whistle-blowers."

However, several lawyers expressed concern over the clash with the Bill of Guarantees stated under the Multimedia Super Corridor which protects free speech by prohibiting Internet censorship.

"Frankly, I think there might be a contravention of the Bill. But legally speaking, the order of the court supersedes it," said Sankara Nair, who is counsel-of-record for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said that RPK's counsel could still apply to have the order set aside or varied — for example, delayed.

"It is an interesting landmark case, as getting the injunction is one matter but executing it is another," he added.

Lawyer Annou Xavier concurred that it is "enormously difficult" to track down a specific visitor as he or she could've been in a cybercafe or outside the country, saying the order impinged on free speech.

"Online anonymity is vital for the public to air opinions," he said, noting that the KL High Court was asking for the identities of commenters to be revealed before they had been found guilty of defamation.

On the issue of protection of the anonymity of whistle-blowers, he said Malaysia was still "blowing hot air".

When contacted this morning, RPK said he had yet to receive the court order and would not comment on it, saying he would reveal his next course of action as matters move along through statements on Malaysia Today.

-TMI