Widespread worry that Section 114a of the Evidence Act will make it easier for the authorities to convict netizens are “misplaced fears”, said Liew Vui Keong, a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.
The clause assigns culpability to those who own networks or whose images and names are posted on a website as publishers of offending content, unless they can rebut the assumption. "In Section 114a, it is clear that the person is only assumed to be involved. All assumptions are open for rebuttal in court, all are only assumptions until (these) can be proven," Liew countered during a press conference in the Parliament lobby today.
He said prosecutors are still required to prove the charges, using the "balance of probabilities" as in a civil case.
Liew had earlier received a memorandum from the Centre for Independent Journalism, seeking to stop the amendment from being gazetted, although it has been passed by Parliament.
[More to follow]
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