Court acquits M'kini directors after charges dropped

The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today granted an acquittal to Malaysiakini and KiniTV directors, editor-in-chief Steven Gan and chief executive officer Premesh Chandran, over several charges of uploading an offensive video on former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali.

They were charged under Section 233(1) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA).

Judge MM Edwin Paramjothy granted the acquittal after the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission prosecutor DPP Nazrul Nizam informed the court that they have accepted the letter of representation from the defence.

The acquittal was given even though Nazrul told the judge that his instruction was to seek a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

Malaysiakini lawyer Fahri Azzat, who appeared with K Shanmuga, said an acquittal should be granted in pursuant to Section 254(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).

Fahri provided four reasons: There is no confirmation on the prosecution's intend to recharge; no reason provided for the withdrawal; (Citizens' Declaration coordinator) Khairuddin Abu Hassan whom the video depicts as commenting was not charged with sedition and his comments may be true as Apandi is no longer the AG; and it is unfair to leave the charge hanging.

After a short recess, the judge granted the acquittal under Section 254(3) of the CPC.

A discharge not amounting to an acquittal means that despite the prosecution dropping the case, the charge is not removed.

In an immediate reaction, Gan said this is a case of malicious prosecution by the former attorney-general and it is only right that the case is dropped.

"Had this case gone to trial, I'm confident that the judge would have thrown it out of court.

"How could it be a crime for Malaysiakini to cover a press conference, especially when the person who made the allegedly offensive remark about the former AG was not charged?

"Clearly, the real target was Malaysiakini and this was a crude and blatant attempt to intimidate journalists from reporting about the wrongdoers and those complicit in the 1MDB scandal. I hope that such action will no longer be used against journalists in Malaysia," he added.

It was previously reported that Gan and Premesh, as directors of KiniTV Sdn Bhd, had been charged with two counts each for airing an allegedly offensive video featuring Khairuddin titled "Khairuddin: Apandi Ali is not fit to be AG and he should quit immediately".

The video was uploaded in both the English and Bahasa Malaysia sections of KiniTV on July 27, last year.

KiniTV, Gan and Premesh had filed an application to strike out the charges against them under Section 233(1)(a) of the CMA by declaring it as unconstitutional.

However, the application was dismissed by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur in February this year. - Mkini

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