Malaysian bloggers join forces to fight defamation suit

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Two Malaysian bloggers, who are being sued by the same newspaper for defamation, joined forces to fight their unprecedented lawsuits Wednesday, which have been criticised for stifling free expression.

The government-linked New Straits Times Press (NSTP) January filed suits against Ahirudin Attan and Jeff Ooi over items published on their websites last year, which criticised the newspaper and the government.

Ooi's counsel, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, said an application was made Wednesday to Malaysia's high court to merge the actions against Ahirudin and his client since their postings are "substantially the same."

He said consolidating the two cases would prevent two separate trials from being held, which risked inconsistent judgements being...