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Sue them, make them bankrupt, Mr PM! Posted: 03 Jun 2014 07:07 AM PDT Oh yes, sue them Mr Prime Minister! Make them bankrupt if you can! RM500 million or RM1 billion, perhaps! Some support PM Najib's move to sue pro-opposition news portal Malaysiakini on grounds that the portal had gone overboard by publishing fabricated lies and producing slanderous articles about the premier, wife Rosmah Mansor and the Barisan Nasional government. Others in support also want to see Mkini be taught a lesson for defaming the government, challenging the rights of the Malay rulers and questioning the Malay rights under the Federal Constitution, which they described as a time-bomb to racial harmony. However, those who oppose would contest with arguments that pro-government and pro-Umno mainstream media also did the same thing - calling the Chinese 'pendatang', telling some of them to migrate and even published 'substance of racism'. Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today served news portal Malaysiakini with a writ of summons over readers comments published by the website. The writ and statement of claim was delivered by hand to the news portal at its Bangsar Utama office today. Named as defendants are Malaysiakini publisher Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd, editor-in-chief Steven Gan and chief editor Fathi Aris Omar. Co-claimant in the suit is Umno executive secretary Abdul Rauf Yusoh. The claimants say that the compilation of readers' comments in two 'Yoursay' articles published on May 14, namely 'A case of the PM reaping what he sows' and 'How much will Najib spend to keep Terengganu?', were defamatory. Case management is set for June 18 before justice SM Komathy Suppiah. In response, Gan said the independent news portal had expected such action after Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia attacked Malaysiakini readers last month. He said the news portal, as always, had offered Najib the right of reply and to engage Malaysiakini readers. "He was more than welcome to explain to them why he thought their opinions of him and Umno were wrong," said Gan.   He said the prime minister and Umno should have presented their views, which would have been published on the website, rather than pursuing libel proceedings against media organisations. This offer was rejected by Najib in a letter sent to Malaysiakini last Thursday. "We intend to fight the suit vigorously," added Gan. Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaludddin has lauded Najib over the latter's decision to sue news portal Malaysiakini. Tweeting his response, the Sports Minister said it was about time that the news portal is hauled to court. I personally support the move. Since DAP and Pakatan Rakyat had won few cases against Utusan Malaysia and other publications, its fair that Umno and PM try their luck, right? In Singapore, a blogger sued for damages by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Monday he had successfully raised fees for his legal defence in just four days through crowd funding. Roy Ngerng Yi Ling (pic), a government health worker who posts comments on social issues, said 1,104 people had so far contributed more than Sg$72,000 ($55,700), exceeding his target of Sg$70,000 when he launched the campaign Friday. Ngerng published the transaction history of his bank account on his crowd funding platform. Many of the donors registered comments criticising Lee and opposing the use of libel suits to silence government critics. Any similarity in both cases?

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