I strongly condemn the high handedness of the officers from the Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture (MCMC) in raiding the service centre of the Taiping Member of Parliament, YB Nga Kor Ming, in Taiping, his house in Ipoh and his parents’ house in Ayer Tawar.
I have asked the officers who raided his parents’ house in Ayer Tawar if they have verified that the postings came from the Twitter and the Facebook accounts of YB Nga Kor Ming. They have answered in the negative. There had been so many fake postings attributed to YB Nga Kor Ming in the past.
The officers have clearly acted illegally when they have not even verified that the 2 purported offensive posts on the twitter and facebook were from the accounts of YB Nga Kor Ming.
It is fundamental in law that before a person can be investigated, there must be reasonable ground to suspect that the person has committed a crime under the law.
I sincerely believe that had the respective Magistrates who issued the search warrants been informed that such verifications have not been made, they would not have issued the search warrants. In the spirit of the separation of powers it is my hope that the Courts will take extra care before they make any order against a legislator who is elected by the people.
The officer investigating YB Nga Kor Ming had threatened him that action will be taken against him for refusing to cooperate with a public officer when YB Nga Kor Ming refused to disclose the passwords to his accounts. The MCMC has acted illegally in the first place and the act of threatening YB Nga Kor Ming is an offence under Section 124 of the Penal Code punishable up to 7 years of imprisonment and fine.
The comments on the 2 postings are comments which any politician must be ready to expect and accept. If they are not able to accept such comments they should not be in politics.
Section 233 (1) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 under which YB Nga Kor Ming is being investigated is also unconstitutional as it does not come under the ambit of the exceptions allowed under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution which guarantees Malaysians the freedom of speech and expression.
I call on the Minister of Communications and Multimedia Minister, Dato Seri Md Salleh Md Said Keruak to state who ordered the illegal actions of his officers and that actions must be taken against them.