Steven Gan

The Federal Court has set July 13 to hear contempt proceedings against news portal Malaysiakini and its editor-in-chief Steven Gan over comments posted by readers on the website.

This comes after a seven-member panel of the court decided this afternoon not to allow the respondents' application to set aside the leave order to initiate the proceedings.

Court of Appeal president Justice Rohana Yusuf, who delivered the judgment, said the decision was made unanimously.

The panel of judges found that Attorney-General Idrus Harun had established a prima facie case to initiate the contempt proceedings against Malaysiakini and Gan.

The court found Malaysiakini had failed to take steps to verify assertions made in the articles.

Ia dipercayai berhubung reaksi mereka terhadap keputusan Mahkamah Persekutuan yang mendapati Mkini Dot Com Sdn Bhd bersalah Jumaat lepas.

Looking forward to the weekend ahead? But first, have a listen to today's headlines in just 3-minutes.

Federal Court panel found Malaysiakini was fully responsible for publishing the readers' comments and fined the news portal RM500,000.

Keputusan dibuat panel tujuh Hakim Mahkamah Persekutuan, yang dipengerusikan Presiden Mahkamah Rayuan, Tan Sri Datuk Rohana Yusuf.

A panel in the Federal Court ruled that Malaysiakini held full responsibility for its website, including whatever is published.

It is all the more disturbing for the State to take action against the media for reporting supposedly -offensive- remarks, it said.

Portal berita video, KiniTV dihadapkan ke Mahkamah Sesyen di sini atas dua pertuduhan menghantar komunikasi jelik menerusi video oleh bekas Naib Ketua UMNO Bahagian Batu Kawan Datuk Seri Khairuddin Ab

KiniTV, represented by its director, Steven Gan Diong Keng, 54, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges before judge Zaman Mohd Noor.

Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department head Datuk Zainuddin Ahmad said the raid was conducted following a report by an officer from the Attorney-General Chambers last Tuesday.

Laporan berita daripada arus perdana mahupun alternatif, harus lebih memberi penekanan kepada konsep "penyebaran maklumat yang seimbang".

The application was withdrawn following Judicial Commissioner Kamaludin Md Said's appointment as a judge.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Datuk Ab Rauf Yusoh have filed a defamation suit against Malaysiakini and two of its editors.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and UMNO threatens to take legal action against Malaysiakini over alleged defamatory and seditious articles.