Ex-MP gives ultimatum to MCMC: 'Unblock my blog or see you in court'

Former Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong has demanded that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) unblock his blog within the next 24 hours or face legal consequences.

In a letter to MCMC, Wee's lawyer called the blocking, which was done without any prior official notification or reason, a violation of his constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression.

Wee was also not officially informed by MCMC that his blog had been blocked or on what basis access was denied to him.

"Kindly take notice that if our client's blog continues to be blocked and remains inaccessible for service of this letter, our instructions are to file proceedings against you and/or your minister and/or the government of Malaysia, without prejudice to a claim for compensation or damages.

"Our client hopes that it will not be necessary for him to resort to legal action if you act with due dispatch within the above time frame to comply with his demands," it said.

Wee, who runs the site http://weechookeong.com/, is known for his vocal criticism of the links between big businesses and politicians as well as revelations of corruption in Malaysia's financial sector.

The block was discovered by Wee on the night of July 24, when he was denied access to the site. It was confirmed through a message from the server host on July 25, which said the site was being blocked by MCMC.

The letter further said that MCMC acts like a "secret society", even though Malaysia is a "civil society".

Saying that the blog, which Wee started in 2008, has never published any article that threatened national security or interest, it added that throughout the past 18 years, MCMC has never contacted or informed him that he had violated any statutory regulations or rules under the agency.

MCMC, the country's internet regulator, is empowered to instruct ISPs to block "undesirable" websites. In the past, such blocks were extended to news portals and websites critical of the government.

"For the above reasons, we have been instructed to, and we hereby do, respectfully demand that you immediately restore free access to our client's blog where his views and comments can be viewed freely by the rakyat and/or for the rakyat to interact with our client and others through our client's blog or platform," it added.