By Ida Lim. Published by The Malaysian Insider on 22 August 2012.
Umno Youth has claimed that the person who put up the poster with the controversial remarks was “unauthorised” to do so and that the page was not its official Facebook page.
The poster, which was uploaded last Saturday and taken down the same day, appeared to suggest that votes for federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will cause Islam to be replaced by Christianity as the country’s official religion.
It had read: “Jika anda setuju untuk jadikan KRISTIAN sebagai agama rasmi persekutuan Malaysia, teruskan sokongan anda kepada Pakatan Rakyat. (If you agree to make CHRISTIANITY the official religion of the federation of Malaysia, continue supporting Pakatan Rakyat.) ‘God bless you my son’.”
If Umno Youth is brought to court over the “unauthorised” Facebook post, it would be the test case for the newly-enforced Section 114A of the Evidence Act that has already seen widespread opposition from the public.
Section 114A makes even coffee shops offering free Wi-Fi services liable for any defamatory or criminal acts of customers using computers at their premises The new law creates a presumption that any registered user of network services is presumed to be the publisher of a publication sent from a computer linked to that network service if he cannot show otherwise The Section also provides that any “person whose name photograph or pseudonym appears on any publication depicting himself as the owner host administrator editor or sub-editor or who in any manner facilitates to publish or re-publish the publication is presumed to have published or re-published the contents of the publication unless the contrary is proved ”.
Read more here: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/guilty-until-proven-innocent-law-applies-to-umno-youth-in-facebook-probe/
Related reports:
Section 114A of the Evidence Act cannot be used in the case of Umno Youth's alleged seditious posting because the amendment is based on presumption of fact and not presumption of guilt, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.
“The amendment is only a form of procedure. It can only be invoked if a person is charged under other laws and the court is convinced to use it to shift the burden of proof to the accused,” he told a press conference Thursday.
Nazri said the accused can then prove their innocence through a balance of probabilities, as how Umno Youth has done by making a police report as soon as possible.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/8/23/nation/11898237&sec=nation
City CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Ku Chin Wah said the probe would not be conducted under Section 114A of the Evidence Act, which had been criticised by various quarters.
“Our initial investigation is carried out under Section 233. Once this is completed, we will pass our investigation papers to the Attorney-General who will then decide whether this should continue under the same Act or under Section 114A or other sections,” he told reporters here yesterday.
