Lawyers Concerned Over Gag Order on Haze
11/12/97
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Headline: Lawyers Concerned Over Gag Order on Haze
Source: Agence France-Presse
Date: 11/12/97
Copyright 1997 by Agence France-Presse
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 (AFP) - Malaysian lawyers on Wednesday
expressed concern at the government ban on comments by academics
about the haze problem, saying it infringed freedom of speech.
"It is against the spirit of freedom of speech guaranteed under
Article 10 of the federal constitution and the principles of
academic freedom," Bar Council president Cyrus V. Das said in a
statement.
"The directive may have the debilitating effect of curbing
academic research and discussion."
British-trained Education Minister Najib Tun Razak last week
banned academics from making statements on the haze problem.
He said some comments had been manipulated by the foreign media
to mar the country's image and tourists were being scared away.
Much of Southeast Asia was last month covered by smog from
extensive forest and peat fires in Indonesia, blamed on plantations
setting fires to clear land.
"The Bar Council is concerned that the directive sends the wrong
signal as regards our belief in the constitutional guarantee of free
speech and academic freedom," Das said.
The Bar Council chief said the publication of faulty or
unsubstantiated research on the current haze problem may adversely
affect the tourist trade. But in a democratic country believing in
free speech, and in a marketplace for ideas, a well considered
rebuttal may be the best riposte.