J'ACCUSE: The ‘Jalan Riong’ Affair

“Siaran ‘Jalan Riong’ tergendala … kerana orang yang tidak bersalah akan diheret ke mahkamah tidak lama lagi….”

This blog will be closed down until further notice.

Not because all good things must come to an end. Not because of illness and a broken heart. Not because this area’s streamyx seems to be perpetually in cyber-ICU.

It stops here because an innocent man, ‘Anwar’, has been made a scapegoat.

He will mostly likely go to jail due to the disgusting and preposterous state of affairs caused by the *real* Jalan Riong. Stopping this blog is our way of protesting this injustice.

We knew and liked Screenshots. Thus, we willingly took up arms in support Screenshots when it came under vile and despicable fire from Jalan Riong.

However, events of late have moved the compass elsewhere.

An unknown hospital lab technician - ‘Anwar’ – is now under attack from the government. What are bloggers going to do about this?

Should we now stand aside and allow the law to take its course because:-

(a) We didn’t agree with what ‘Anwar’ said;
(b) We don’t know who this ‘Anwar’ person is; and/or
(c) We don’t care about ‘Anwar’ because he’s not important and not a public figure.

Or can we once again rise to the occasion and by virtue of defending ‘Anwar’, defend our right to freedom of expression?

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“…(L)a verite est en marche et rien ne l'arretera” (Truth is on the march and nothing can stop it) [Emile Zola, “J’accuse” in L'Aurore, 13 January 1898]

This is not the Dreyfuss Affair. We are not anywhere as eloquent as Emile Zola. But the following is a proposition:-

A small battle was won when it came to Screenshots. But the war against bloggers and freedom of expression still looms. The venue: Cyberspace. Number of casualties to date: One (‘Anwar’).

In the first place, there are too few freedoms left in Malaysia when it comes to writing, publishing and expression. We have all but lost the war on press freedom. We will never see the demise of the Printing Presses and Publications Act unless we have a change of government. So we are now left with this sad miniscule slice of ‘liberated’ zone which is under constant attacks from every conceivable force.

If the prosecution continues, and god forbids, succeeds in the case of ‘Anwar’, what we have before us is a precedent with enormous repercussions.

We would then have to fear what we say, how we say it and when we say it. With each stroke of the keyboard, we tremble in anticipation of the worst-case scenario. Everytime we push the ‘Send’ or ‘Submit’ button, we wonder if we had covered all bases.

This will spell the end of freedom of expression on the internet.

This will be the end to our right to privacy.

J’accuse Jalan Riong of shamelessly using its resources to launch a personal campaign to in order to vilify Screenshots.

J’accuse Jalan Riong of obscuring multiple truths in order to incite an sizeable and influential community to react adversely towards Screenshots.

J’accuse Jalan Riong of not having the common courtesy and decency of extending a public apology to Screenshots for the pain and suffering it has caused.

J’accuse Jalan Riong of complicity in finding a scapegoat and allowing the persecution of ‘Anwar’ to continue in order to cover their tracks and save ‘face’.

Finally, J’accuse Jalan Riong of attempting to dismantle a fundamental guarantee under the MSC Bill of Guarantees and to erode internet users’ freedom of expression, thought and opinion.

Malaysian Lampoon: JalanRiong.blogspot.com has been a satire in support of freedom of expression on the internet. We say, the only exception to this rule is where there are violence, threats of physical harm, death threats etc.

Each one of us can have our own list of issues or words that we disallow into our own sites. Moderated sites are common and there is a code of honour among bloggers. Some may say this, and others say that; whoever or whatever we dislike or disagree may face the wrath of the ‘delete’ button – this is our prerogative.

But we do not and cannot allow the government-of-the-day to regulate and dictate to us what to do and what to censor.

This choice is ours alone. This is what’s called freedom of expression.

Now the choice is yours.

Defend ‘Anwar’.
Defend freedom of expression and our privacy.

And defend at all costs.

Because ‘Anwar’s’ freedom is ours too.


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Final note to self:
(1) Send bouquets and thank-you notes to all readers of this blog – via telepathy.