Why is Dr Mahathir so worried?
Salleh Said Keruak
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad asked as to why the Thai authorities are taking action against Xavier Andre Justo. “What makes me puzzled is that he didn’t commit a crime in Thailand. He committed the crime in Saudi Arabia,” said Dr Mahathir.
Actually, under the Computer Crimes Act 1997, computer crimes are borderless — just like terrorism, money laundering, dug trafficking, war crimes, etc. Dr Mahathir should know this since in 1997 he was still Malaysia’s Prime Minister.
The Computer Crimes Act 1997 says:
9. (1) The provisions of this Act shall, in relation to any person, whatever his nationality or citizenship, have effect outside as well as within Malaysia, and where an offence under this Act is committed by any person in any place outside Malaysia, he may be dealt with in respect of such offence as if it was committed at any place within Malaysia.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), this Act shall apply if, for the offence in question, the computer, program or data was in Malaysia or capable of being connected to or sent to or used by or with a computer in Malaysia at the material time.
So there is no such thing as jurisdiction in computer crimes, plus the other crimes mentioned above.
