Media Comment by Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Monday, 25^th January 2010: 

Why Police has not lodged report against Awang Selamat and Mingguan Malaysia for sedition when it had lodged report against Guan Eng for sedition?

Since the publication in Mingguan Malaysia yesterday of Awang Selamat’s editorial “Melayu sokong DAP?” reeking with racist poison and incitement, the question many Malaysians ask is why the police has not lodged police report against Mingguan Malaysia and Awang Selamat for sedition and to initiate police investigations when the police could lodge a police report against DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for his speech at the Pakatan Rakyat national convention in Shah Alam last month.

Malaysians want to know whether the police are guilty of double standards, especially when Guan Eng had clearly not committed any sedition when he referred to the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16 last year, while the Awang Selamat editorial in the Mingguan Malaysia clearly violated the Sedition Act in seeking to incite racial animosities and hatred with its spiel of seditious lies and falsehood as alleging that DAP is anti-Malay and wants to abolish the Malay monarchy by establishing a republic.

This is a question that the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan should account to the Malaysian people – whether the police are guilty of double standards.

Awang Selamat’s editorial in the Mingguan Malaysia yesterday is also a clear challenge of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan and concept.

Let it be a test-case for the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday as to whether there are Ministers – Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah and Sarawak – who have the courage of conviction to speak up to make it clear that there is zero-tolerance for inflammatory incitement like Awang Selamat’s editorial of poison, lies and sedition in Najib’s 1Malaysia and the full support of the Cabinet for the strongest action to be taken against Awang Selamat and Mingguan Malaysia.

Utusan Malaysia’s editorial today is entitled: “Tunjukkan ketegasan dalam menangani isu sensitif”. Let the Cabinet Ministers and the Police demonstrate its “ketegasan” in dealing with sensitive issues as far as Awang Selamat and Umno’s Utusan newspapers are concerned.

*Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader & MP for Ipoh Timor