Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said the move was made to show the government’s refusal to condone irresponsible reporting by websites or blogs.
“The decision to block Sarawak Report is the responsibility of the government. No government in the world would allow such blatant lies and controversial news portals to operate within the country. ….
Rahman appeared unperturbed over the criticism, maintaining that the government needed to make a stand.
“When a website is considered to be using tampered or falsification of documentation, then the government has to make a stand and that stand is very clear, we will not tolerate any website, news blogs who are irresponsible and use tampered documents ascertained by the Thai authorities. “Whether they can go around the system and still address Malaysians, that’s their problem.
But at least the government is making a stand,” he said when told that Sarawak Report could still be accessed.
Asked if this was a way for the government to cover its mistakes, Rahman said that news portals would still likely report the “lies and fabricated articles” from Sarawak Report. “Who’s going to stop them? This is an open society but the government is making a stand by law, using laws and there are provisions in the laws of MCMC that any website, news portal already proven to be using tampered documents can be shut down.
This Rahman is the very man who has been responsible for hawking a well-known liar around the internet, uttering ludicrous and blatant lies, based on no evidence at all except the ravings of his disturbed mind.
So why does not Mr Rahman ban himself?
Sarawak Report has tested its information against the facts, which is why after several months no legal moves have been made to challenge our articles and neither have Mr Rahman and his friends been able to bring forward a single example to prove our allegations false.
Mr Rahman should follow our example and check his facts before he publishes or endorses information.
For example, his sole source, the known huckster Lester Melanyi, has raved on about an alleged James Steward Stephen as our supposed web site creator and ‘master forger’.
If Mr Rahman had done a bit of google research he would have seen there is no such person in the profession of website design.
Instead, this was the real name of Hollywood film star James Stewart! How embarrassing is that?!
Maybe it is Lester’s last joke on his paymasters in this affair.