Mahathir: Only cowards sue critics

“I suspect that what they want is to make the issue sub judice so as to prevent the critics from attacking them on the issue. This is a cowardly move and in fact proves that the criticisms are fully justified,” said Dr Mahathir.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has taken a swipe at politicians who file legal suits against critics, calling them cowards.

In his latest blog posting, he says he will not sue author Barry Wain, who in his book 'Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times' writes that he misappropriated public funds when he was prime minister.

“I am leery of politicians who sue their critics,” he said.

He urges the public to be cautious of such politicians, saying they are prone to abusing their power.

He said a politician should be able to fend of criticisms without going to court if he is innocent.

Mahathir, during whose years in power a number of publications had their licences suspended or cancelled, says politicians who use the legal process to muzzle criticism are no better than a government that shuts down publications which are critical of it. -- Free Malaysia Today, 14 June 2010

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Raja Petra and editors to pay RM7mil for libel

ALOR STAR: A High Court here has ordered blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, the group chief editor and editor of PKR’s organ Suara Keadilan to pay a total of RM7mil to Universiti Utara Malaysia and its vice-chancellor Tan Sri Dr Nordin Kardi for libel.

High Court deputy registrar Priscilla Gengadaran made the order yesterday following a judgment in default she handed down on Feb 26 after the three had failed to file their defence within the required period.

She ordered the damages to be paid to the plaintiffs for claiming that Dr Nordin was a plagiarist on the Malaysia Today website and in the 98th edition of Suara Keadilan in November 2006.

Nordin and UUM had filed a lawsuit against Raja Petra, PKR, Suara Keadilan group chief editor and the editor. Only PKR had submitted its defence.

Priscilla ordered Raja Petra to pay RM2mil to Dr Nordin and UUM respectively. She also ordered each of the editors to pay RM1mil and RM500,000 to Dr Nordin and UUM respectively.

Dr Nordin told a press conference yesterday that the judgment showed that there was room for the public to take action against bloggers who made slanderous remarks.

“Politicians and artistes who are the usual targets should take action to ensure bloggers do not make libellous statements,” he said.

Dr Nordin said that if the defendants paid up, he would use the money for the benefit of UUM. -- The Star, 27 March 2008

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RPK refuses to accept court order

A court order ended up being left on the floor at the Magistrates Court at Jalan Duta Friday morning.

Lawyer Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had tried to serve the court order on Raja Petra Kamarudin, seeking him to remove three defamatory articles posted on Malaysia Today in August this year.

Raja Petra, however, refused to accept the court order, saying: "This is (a) court and it is contempt".

Shafee then put the document on the floor.

The incident unfolded at 11.05am at the Criminal 1 courtroom, where Raja Petra was appearing over his criminal defamation case.

Later at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, Raja Petra refused to enter a plea to three counts of criminal defamation. -- The Star, 15 August 2008

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Raja Petra again refuses to enter plea

Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin again refused to enter a plea after he was recharged with three counts of criminal defamation over his statutory declaration on the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Raja Petra, 58, repeatedly told Sessions Court judge Mohamad Sekeri Mamat: “I refuse to enter a plea on grounds that the charges are mala fide.”

Upon being told by the judge that he had to enter a plea, Raja Petra said loudly after his case was transferred from a magistrate's court to the Sessions Court yesterday:

“I refuse to respond to any plea. My plea remains the same.”

He is alleged to have defamed the Deputy Prime Minister’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor by making a libellous statement in the declaration, which he affirmed on June 18.

He also faces two similar charges against Kolonel Norhayati Hassan and her husband Acting Kolonel Abdul Aziz Buyong.

The news portal editor is said to have committed the offences at High Court (Civil 5) at the Jalan Duta court complex at 10.25am on June 18.

Lawyer Amarjit Singh told the judge that the defence team would be making a preliminary objection against the charges on the trial day on the grounds that they were defective.

Raja Petra's bail of RM2,000 set by the magistrate was retained.

The court set two days from Nov 24 for a joint trial. -- The Star, 16 August 2008

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Comments (18) Add Comment

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written by cheekhiaw, June 16, 2010 12:36:15

Thieves sue first?

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written by TWOG, June 15, 2010 15:43:01

written by nagappan, June 14, 2010 17:40:24
I think Mahathir is attacking Lee Kuan Yew.

Yup, making a virtue out of necessity. TDM is so shit scared and guilty as well that he dared not sue, or else he will really be opening up Pandora's box. Dare not sue - so might as well go on the offensive (and being very offensive as well) and brand those who are libeled and slandered as cowards.

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written by onnetline, June 15, 2010 11:37:52

This corrupted hypocrite, Toon MaMakTahi is pure garbage and contradicting himself.
Then why the fcuk did he locked up the critics under the ISA Act during his governance ...................... were these critics - communists ?
......... senile racist mudderfcukker !

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written by justice seeker, June 15, 2010 10:28:26

I suspect that what they want is to make the issue sub judice so as to prevent the critics from attacking them on the issue. This is a cowardly move and in fact proves that the criticisms are fully justified,” said Dr Mahathir.

HAIL TO THE ONLY VOCAL MASTER WHO CAN TALK BACKWARDS OR SPEAK THROUGH HIS B*TT.
JUST SAY LAH: ONLY YOU AND YOUR KIND CAN SUE.

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written by archie, June 15, 2010 10:20:58

Locking up critics under ISA is no coward?

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written by temanmu, June 15, 2010 01:55:45

Mahathir, the illusionist!

or is he "losing his marbles"?

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written by Motherchell, June 14, 2010 23:53:40

Yeah cowards!! the Tainted Judiciary had been convicted for high treason for the past 25 years--it always fails to serve its sentence. They are above GOD and the KING but below the UMNOPUTRAS. They have served and are serving injustices well with pens that don't write.

Yes !! this is the same Tan Sri Dr Nordin Kadi ----The High Court ordered him to pay his RM5,000 fine for contempt of court within two weeks or be jailed for a month. Well! he ""stole"" works from KIC Management, a company organizing the MBA programme with UUM
.http://www.mmail.com.my/content/34477-appeal-dismissed-uum-vice-chancellor-fined-rm5000
In some way he was stealing from ""PETER"" to pay Paul!! He did not have anything original for a" Dr" affixed to his name !! Same as the Rais idiot!! To add more salt to our wounds-- the Sultans continue to shower these types with ""monikers"" like Datuks, Tuns, TanSris etc as though the names their fathers gave them seemed illegitimate.
Now coming to this Peoples Fighter for rights and Justice below .Note how he is cuffed , and the look alike of the SAWAK of Reza Pallavi around him. Even the Agong does not have a more secure space. All this man possesed was his Silent Roar that the Establishment was made to shit bricks. Was that cuff necessary?? Was his rights respected before the KING?? Maybe the King was blinded when the clowns in the Judiciary took the oath of office.

See what what this fellow is -- he is not cuffed, see the high profile lawyer and the cops climbing on trees and staying away from being screwed.
Koo Tee Yam, age 45, is believed to control most of the underworld activities in Kuala Lumpur namely loan sharking, pirated discs and goods, prostitution, drugs, illegal gambling and murder among others. He has also diversified into many legitimate businesses such as discos, clubs, security companies, restaurants, construction and many more. Controlling assets worth more than RM1 billion, he is the head of the so-called “Four Heavenly Kings” that controls a large criminal empire in West Malaysia. He was represented by a very well connected UMNO lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who has and is currently representing a legion of highly questionable characters accused of murder, gangsterism, corruption and abuse of power. This KTY was arrested under the ISA. and guess who released him?? The Federal Court (chaired by Justice Datuk Pajan Singh Gill, Justice Datuk Richard Malanjum and Justice Datuk Augustine Paul) ordered his unconditional release citing that the detainee’s rights had been circumvented by the police, which is the same argument given by hundreds of ISA detainees and ignored by the Federal Court in almost 50 years of the application of the ISA.
http://malaysian-rumors.b******t.com/2007_05_01_archive.html

Now do we see the ~~cowards~~ cowherds and the lembus running the Country!!!!!!!!!!!!

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written by relaxjack, June 14, 2010 22:55:04

He never sued but he used the ISA to silence critics.

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written by Nixcloud, June 14, 2010 20:31:06

how to sue when you know Barry is right?

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written by singhkris, June 14, 2010 20:30:35

Yes sir. Cowards sue their critics. Heroes like Mamathir use the ISA and lock them up. Remember Ops Lallang!

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written by earthman, June 14, 2010 19:08:06

Remember that you are what you think or say all day long. If we keep on insulting and giving negative commends against our enemies, then the end result is what you get. . So , give due appreciation for correct statements coming from such people . Then negative issues here will slowly turn positive . This is better than giving insults and saying negative things. What you wished for may actually happen. And then we hears the usual foolish boast of ,' see , I tell you so ' or, ' they will never change one -lah' . Lets think and talk positive . This is our hope for a great nation Malaysia.

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written by malaysianforever, June 14, 2010 18:14:13

Mahathir and all politicians and businessmen are cowards if they dared not sue critics of them. This is because they fear the truth will be revealed in court.

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written by malaysianohope, June 14, 2010 18:09:24

Chedet is correct in saying politicians who file legal suits against critics are cowards but but having said that he is the culprit who screwed up the judiciary big time so much so the court does not protect the innocents but the people in position of power. Selective amnesia.

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written by hellosunshine, June 14, 2010 17:40:43

Good point RPK. This means that Mahafiraun also doesn't trust the judiciary that he had singlehandedly dismantled and replaced with toothless kangaroos. Barry Wain will tell him and the kangaroos to bugger off. RPK had set the precedent smilies/cheesy.gif

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written by nagappan, June 14, 2010 17:40:24

I think Mahathir is attacking Lee Kuan Yew.

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written by fireduck, June 14, 2010 17:12:19

To a certain extend, true, but I tend to think that 'a government that shuts down publications which are critical of it' is fat worse than a politician who resorts to the courts. At the courts, it may only be those interested and involved parties who may be affected. But the actions of a cowardly govt in shutting down its critics is broad based and affect all the rakyat, whether we are active participants in the criticisms or not. It is an abuse of power or at the very least a lopsided application of the executive powers against the very people who put them up there to represent them and to look after their interests.

And that, old man, is far more cowardly than an individual who seeks actions from the courts. And if you had not screwed up our Judiciary, then the court process would be a fair one, and whatever decisions it comes up with, will be duly respected by all parties concerned.

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written by malsia1206, June 14, 2010 17:00:36

A highlight of the Sarawak's CM who pursued the same strategy relatings to allegations of making huge monetary gains on the shipment of exported logs with Japanese connections some 2 years back. And the next thing he tried was to shield all those allegations by his self-declaration the matter became 'sub judice' because he had merely instructed for legal proceedings to be instituted. My foot, that is the defence of a public high-profile figure who had chickened out. He had the option to sue for defamation and libel which he chose not to. As they say, there's no smoke without fire.

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written by reeperbahn, June 14, 2010 16:51:31

..political and public officebearers must accept criticism and prove their innocence because they are servants to the public. the public has the right to demand this because their salary is paid by the taxpayer.