KUALA LUMPUR: Access to Malaysia Today, the website on which fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin had posted digital copies of leaked documents on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ), including classified Cabinet papers, appears to have been blocked by the authorities.
These documents were available for public viewing the past three days but the website was inaccessible today.
The website had published what appears to be a request from the Finance Ministry for a retrospective increase in cost for the PKFZ project from about RM1 billion to nearly RM5 billion.
The DAP’s Lim Kit Siang suggested today that the government could be responsible for the blockade.
“Has it anything to do with the RM12.5 billion PKFZ documents, including Cabinet papers, on the website in the past three days?,” said Lim in a statement today.
Lim insinuated that the inaccessibility of Raja Petra’s website coincided with an English daily report today that investigations have been ordered against it.
This morning, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also promised to punish those responsible for the leak under the Officials Secrets Act.
“Anyone who exposes Cabinet papers will be subjected to police investigations, and action under the OSA will depend on the investigations,” Najib told reporters today.
Attorney General Tan Sri Gani Pattail had also been reported as saying that those responsible for publications would be dealt with through the OSA.
Lim blasted the government’s response, saying that Najib must “honour his pledge of public accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance which must include a commitment to freedom of information.”
“To do this, it is essential that Najib declassify all relevant PKFZ government documents, including Cabinet papers, to public scrutiny as there can be no security justification to continue to protect such information as ‘official secrets’ under the OSA,” he said.
When contacted, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission was unable to confirm if it was responsible for blocking Malaysia Today.
MI
19/09/09
These documents were available for public viewing the past three days but the website was inaccessible today.
The website had published what appears to be a request from the Finance Ministry for a retrospective increase in cost for the PKFZ project from about RM1 billion to nearly RM5 billion.
The DAP’s Lim Kit Siang suggested today that the government could be responsible for the blockade.
“Has it anything to do with the RM12.5 billion PKFZ documents, including Cabinet papers, on the website in the past three days?,” said Lim in a statement today.
Lim insinuated that the inaccessibility of Raja Petra’s website coincided with an English daily report today that investigations have been ordered against it.
This morning, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also promised to punish those responsible for the leak under the Officials Secrets Act.
“Anyone who exposes Cabinet papers will be subjected to police investigations, and action under the OSA will depend on the investigations,” Najib told reporters today.
Attorney General Tan Sri Gani Pattail had also been reported as saying that those responsible for publications would be dealt with through the OSA.
Lim blasted the government’s response, saying that Najib must “honour his pledge of public accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance which must include a commitment to freedom of information.”
“To do this, it is essential that Najib declassify all relevant PKFZ government documents, including Cabinet papers, to public scrutiny as there can be no security justification to continue to protect such information as ‘official secrets’ under the OSA,” he said.
When contacted, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission was unable to confirm if it was responsible for blocking Malaysia Today.
MI
19/09/09
No comments:
Post a Comment