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Malaysian rights group sues Singapore minister over false news law
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Singapore’s interior minister
was sued Friday by a Malaysian human rights group in a bid to prevent the
city-state from enforcing its law against false information in Malaysia.
Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, wielding a new law to fight
misinformation, had ordered Lawyers for Liberty to correct last week’s post
alleging the city-state used a brutal “coup de grace” to finish off botched
executions.
Singapore has denied the allegations as “untrue, baseless and
preposterous” but the Malaysian rights group stood by its claims and refused
to issue a correction notice.
Under Singapore’s law, failure to comply with a correction directive is
an offence punishable with a fine and jail term.
N. Surendran, an advisor for Lawyers for Liberty, said the group were
asking the Malaysian High Court to declare the Singapore directive “null and
void” and unenforceable in Malaysia.
“This is an attempt by Singapore to encroach upon or to stifle or to
crackdown on freedom of speech in our country,” Surendran told reporters.
“It is an attempt to reach out their tentacles and impose their own
oppressive fake news act on Malaysians issuing statements in Malaysia.”
Under the law, Singaporean authorities can order corrections placed next
to posts they deem false. Malaysia repealed a similar power in 2019.
Singapore home affairs ministry officials were not immediately available
for comment.
Separately, the country’s information minister directed the media
regulator to block access in the city-state to the Malaysian rights group’s
website, where the allegations were originally posted.
The city-state imposes the death penalty — carried out by hanging —
for crimes such as drug trafficking and murder, and hanged 13 people in 2018,
according to official data.
Many of the inmates on death row are from Malaysia, Surendran said.
In a first, a Singapore opposition political party challenged the law in
court earlier this month but a judge reserved judgement on the case.
Activists say the Singaporean law is used to stifle criticism ahead of
elections.
Since it came into force in October, several opposition figures and
activists have been ordered to place a banner next to online posts stating
that they contain false information.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1340HRS