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Malaysia-based NGO rejects Pofma order by MHA, says direction in breach of international law

SINGAPORE — Malaysia’s Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has refused to comply with the Singapore Government’s latest correction direction for publishing falsehoods, claiming that its article on death row prisoners in the Republic was based on “evidence” from former and current Singapore prison officers.

The author of the original article is N Surendran, a former Malaysian Member of Parliament for Padang Serai from the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition government and ex-vice president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat. He had on numerous occasions previously lobbied against the execution of Malaysian drug mules in Singapore.

The author of the original article is N Surendran, a former Malaysian Member of Parliament for Padang Serai from the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition government and ex-vice president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat. He had on numerous occasions previously lobbied against the execution of Malaysian drug mules in Singapore.

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SINGAPORE — Malaysia’s Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has refused to comply with the Singapore Government’s latest correction direction for publishing falsehoods, claiming that its article on death row prisoners in the Republic was based on “evidence” from former and current Singapore prison officers.

Instead the Malaysian non-governmental organisation has called for the directives, which were issued under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma), to be withdrawn unconditionally and with immediate effect.

The organisation also asked for the same rescission for the orders issued to freelance journalist Kirsten Han, sociopolitical site The Online Citizen (TOC) and news portal Yahoo Singapore.

In a rebuttal titled “Singapore must withdraw threats of POFMA criminal proceedings against LFL and Singapore activists”, the group defended its original Jan 16 article, which claimed that prisoners on death row in Singapore were executed in a brutal manner. It said that its article was based on “evidence” from former and current Singapore prison officers with “impeccable service records”.

However, the statement stopped short of identifying these officers. LFL previously said its Jan 16 article was based on information received from one Singapore prison officer.

LFL also criticised Pofma as “an oppressive and undemocratic” law that was passed amid controversy. “It has been condemned internationally as a weapon by Singapore to stifle dissent or criticism.”

The author of the original article is N Surendran, a former Malaysian Member of Parliament for Padang Serai from the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition government and ex-vice president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat. He had on numerous occasions previously lobbied against the execution of Malaysian drug mules in Singapore.

LFL also argued that the Singapore law infringed on Malaysian citizens’ right to free speech.

“It is outrageous and unacceptable for Singapore to issue a notice under their Pofma to a Malaysian organisation such as LFL, which is operating and issuing statements on Malaysian soil,” the organisation’s director Melissa Sasidaran said.

“This is nothing short of an attempt to silence us and prevent the truth about the manner of executions from coming out.

“Singapore should learn to accept criticism. They have no monopoly over what constitutes facts and the truth.

“This attempt by Singapore to extend their jurisdiction to Malaysian citizens across the Causeway is provocative, illegal and in breach of international law,” the statement added.

TODAY has reached out to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for comment. The ministry had instructed the Pofma Office to issue the directions on Wednesday morning.

It said that the LFL article, which claimed to have information from a Singapore Prison Service officer who had served at the execution chamber in Changi Prison and carried out executions, were “untrue, baseless and preposterous”.

“No effort is spared to ensure that all judicial executions in Singapore are carried out in strict compliance with the law,” said the MHA. “Any acts such as those described in the LFL statement would have been thoroughly investigated and dealt with.”

An extra-territoriality clause within Pofma, which is publicly accessible online, states that a person who had spread falsehoods online outside Singapore may be dealt with as if the offence had been committed in Singapore.

In the event of non-compliance, Pofma also empowers the authorities to order an internet service provider to “take reasonable steps to disable access by end-users in Singapore to the online location”, known as an access blocking order. The internet service provider can be held liable and face stiff fines if it does not follow this order.

As of 4.30pm, Ms Han, who had shared the LFL article on her Facebook page, has since added a correction notice to her post. Yahoo Singapore has not amended its Facebook post linking to the article by its Malaysian entity, while TOC has not added the correction notice.

TOC, which had been the first to be targeted by the fake-news law four days after it came into force last October, said it has lodged an appeal to Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam against the correction direction.

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