Day: September 28, 2016

Conviction wrongful: Lawyers For Liberty

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Source: The Heat Malaysia

Sessions Court rules prosecution has proven prima facie case, in convicting the PKR vice-president for sedition over inciteful comments in a speech following the last general election. Image taken from FMT News.

Sessions Court rules prosecution has proven prima facie case, in convicting the PKR vice-president for sedition over inciteful comments in a speech following the last general election. Image taken from FMT News.

PKR Batu MP Tian Chua was sentenced to three months’ jail and fined RM1,800 after he was found guilty of sedition by the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur today. His conviction was immediately denounced as wrongful.

The charge was over remarks he made during a forum three years ago after the 13th General Election. Sessions Court judge Zulqarnain Hassan ruled the prosecution had proven the charge against Tian Chua, who is also PKR vice-president, beyond reasonable doubt.

He added that he was satisfied that Tian Chua, had a “tendency to utter seditious words with the intent of toppling a democratically elected government”.

The judge pointed to the words ‘bangkit’ (rise up) and ‘turun ke jalan raya’ (take to the streets), used by Tian Chua during the forum, as being seditious in nature.

“There is no doubt his speech had the tendency to incite people to change the legally elected government,” the judge added.

He found Tian Chua’s words to be seditious under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948. Read more →

Lack of government data hindering Parliamentarians, says Open Data advocate

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Source: The Sundaily

GEORGE TOWN: The lack of government data for lawmakers may make it difficult for Parliamentarians to do their work in formulating policies to benefit the people.

Open Data advocate Khairil Yusof, who coordinates the Sinar Project website, said Malaysian MPs have asked for statistics 735 times in their questions to Parliament since 2013.

He said the word “jumlah” (totals) appeared 3,453 times and this showed lawmakers were spending their time asking for information and statistics which should be readily available.

“They are wasting time in asking for information which should have been available to the public in the first place,” he said in a forum on using Open Data to fight corruption and improve transparency and enhance accountability today. Read more →

Closing the broadband divide to connect people in Asia and the Pacific — Shamshad Akhtar

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

SEPTEMBER 28 — Advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have been instrumental in shaping and leading socioeconomic transformations across Asia and the Pacific. One key to this transformation is the technology bundled around the “Internet of Things” (IoT), which enables billions of devices and appliances to connect over the Internet for more accurate, real time data collection and analysis in an unparalleled scale.  For instance, through Internet-connected sensors attached to equipment, facilities and infrastructure, early-on maintenance alarms can be raised for potential problems, such as defects or wear and tear, thereby potentially saving the lives of those using them. Another example is devices on farms that remotely monitor soil conditions, weather and pesticide use for more rapid and better-informed decision-making. Read more →

Tian Chua jailed 3 months, fined RM1,800 for sedition

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Source: FMT News

Sessions Court rules prosecution has proven prima facie case, in convicting the PKR vice-president for sedition over inciteful comments in a speech following the last general election. Image taken from FMT News.

Sessions Court rules prosecution has proven prima facie case, in convicting the PKR vice-president for sedition over inciteful comments in a speech following the last general election. Image taken from FMT News.

KUALA LUMPUR: Batu MP Tian Chua was sentenced to three months jail and fined RM1,800 after he was found guilty of making seditious remarks in a post-GE13 speech.

The sentence meted out means that Tian Chua will retain his parliamentary seat as it is below the one-year jail and RM2,000 fine threshold that will cause a lawmaker to lose their seat.

Sessions Court judge Zulqarnain Hassan ruled the prosecution had proven the charge against Tian Chua, who is also PKR vice-president, beyond reasonable doubt.

He added that he was satisfied that Tian Chua, had a “tendency to utter seditious words with the intent of toppling a democratically elected government”.

“The accused had already used words such as ‘bangkit’ (rise), ‘turun ke jalan’ (take to the streets), not long after the 13th general election.

“There is no doubt his speech had the tendency to incite people to change the legally elected government,” the judge added. Read more →