Edisi Siasat blocked by court order: Lawyer insists Comms Minister spell out crimes of whistleblower site
IN George Orwell's satire, Animal Farm, one tyrannical regime is toppled by a popular revolt, only for it to be replaced by one that is infinitely worse.
This was seemingly the point that lawyer and human rights activist Charles Hector was making with regard to whistleblowers.
He was referring to the action taken against whistleblower sites – Edisi Siasat – whose Telegram channel has been blocked and can no longer be viewed by its 1.18 million followers.
Editor's Note: Apart from Edisi Siasat, another well-known Telegram channel, Edisi Khas, is also facing similar wrath from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for allegedly spreading content that could harm public order and erode trust in national institutions.
Hector very pointedly asked what laws did this site break?
The anti-death penalty proponent demanded that Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil and the MCMC to immediately inform Malaysians as to what is happening in detail. This is to avoid confusion.
The legal eagle outlined several pertinent queries:
'What was the alleged crime committed by Edisi Siasat? What post? How was it harmful? Was it fake? Which law exactly did it violate?' he enquired, wondering if it fell afoul of the broadly worded Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which many citizens have called to be repealed.
Hector further drew comparisons of Edisi Siasat with that of the restrictions placed on Sarawak Report by Datuk Seri Najib's administration. The latter website had been instrumental in revealing damning details on the 1MDB scandal and drawing public attention to it.
In 2015, the Sarawak Report was blocked in Malaysia with authorities having issued an arrest warrant for its editor/founder Clare Rewcastle Brown for 'threatening parliamentary democracy.'
Pre-0emptive measure
With a number of cases against officials from the previous administration on-going, perhaps there is a fear among Madani officials that they, too. would be subject to such scrutiny should Pakatan Harapan (PH) fall at the next elections.
Hence, they are safeguarding themselves by taking the necessary pre-emptive measures, according to the outspoken lawyer. This includes the dubious blocking of sites and abuse of authority.
'Remember that public officers are responsible to Malaysians and not just the current PM and government,' he reminded civil servants of their duty.
'The fact that (past) PMs and ministers do commit crime and sometimes abuse their power is already clear. Even now, there are pending investigations and on-going trials against past government PMs, ministers, etc.
'After GE16 –if and when PMX Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's's Madani government is ousted – it is possible we will see cases being commenced against ministers of this current government.' – June 20, 2025
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