LAWYERS for Liberty has criticised the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for stating that activist Hishamuddin Rais was not under investigation.

LFL director Zaid Malek said MCMC’s statement was false as he had seen the police report that initiated the probe.

“This is a blatant lie. I had the opportunity to see the police report that initiated the probe. The report made was specifically against Hisham’s blog, over a post uploaded on it. Throughout the course of investigation, the authorities only referred to the writing on Hisham’s blog and not the original post from the actual author’s blog,” Zaid said in a statement today.

“When Hisham’s statement was recorded, I was present as his lawyer. All the questions directed to him were related to establishing elements of the offence under section 233(1)(a) of the CMA against him.

Yesterday, MCMC said the activist had his statement recorded on Thursday to assist investigations into an offensive post that was shared on his “TukarTiub” blog.

“The MCMC, in collaboration with the police, recorded Hishamuddin’s statement at 3.15pm yesterday to assist in a probe into an ongoing case. The MCMC earlier handed a notice of attendance to Hishamuddin according to the relevant procedures. There was no detention (involved), and no devices were seized, and the investigations concluded at 6.45pm,” the commission said in a statement.

MCMC said its investigations are carried out in accordance with the law.

Zaid said Hishamuddin was grilled about the ownership of the blog, whether he had uploaded the post, and whether he had fact-checked the article before uploading it.

“From this line of questioning, any reasonable person can see that Hisham is the subject matter of the investigation. In short, Hisham was treated throughout as a suspect.

“To support its claim, MCMC said that nothing was seized from Hisham. If that is true, why was Hisham’s house subjected to a search with the presence of so many officers, not only from MCMC but including the police?

“He was told in no uncertain terms that the authorities intended to seize his computer, utilising their powers under section 248 of the CMA to enter his house without a warrant.”

He said the authorities invoked Section 249 of the CMA and forced Hishamuddin to surrender his username and password to the MCMC.

“These are not actions taken against someone who is a mere witness to the offence; it is painfully obvious that Hisham himself was the subject of the probe under section 233(1)(a) of the CMA. MCMC now denying that Hisham is being investigated is a mere afterthought to cover the obvious intimidation and harassment against him for highlighting criticisms against the PM (prime minister).”

Zaid said MCMC’s swift denial following public concern over the probe further proves that the investigation was not genuine but politically motivated.

“Enforcement bodies such as MCMC are funded by the Malaysian public. They are here to serve the public. They are not to act like a tool of those in power now or use their resources to protect the reputation of the PM or government politicians as is evident by their conduct in this matter.” – July 6, 2024.