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Aliran Media Statement

Of Smut, Raiding Homes and Social Control

Any violation of this privacy cannot be tolerated

Aliran views with deep concern the recent declared intention of Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung to allow its enforcement officers to conduct raids into homes without warrants in their continuing nationwide campaign against smut and pirated VCDs. We are told that this would take place if they had reliable information that the number of such VCDs in any particular private home warranted such action.

While the production and peddling of pornographic VCDs in Malaysian society deserves to be condemned, the proposed raiding of homes by the police without search warrants is totally unacceptable in a civil society. This proposal should rightly alarm all Malaysian citizens as it constitutes a flagrant invasion of our privacy. Any violation of this privacy cannot be tolerated and must be rejected outright We are not a police state and we must not behave as one.

Equally serious is the fact that this newfound moral crusade could lead to serious abuse of power by the authorities concerned. Who among common citizens would really dare question the police as to the veracity of their so-called "reliable information" to warrant such invasion of our privacy? How do we determine the authenticity of these personnel?

There have been numerous cases of imposters who passed off as police officers in full uniform and commited serious crimes in the past. There have been claims of false evidence having been planted in such raids to implicate innocent people who are not easily intimidated by the police or to fix someone because of some police grudge. It is also possible for someone with a motive to seek revenge by giving false information to get even.

Can houses be raided when there is no one present? Even if someone was present, there would be no assurance that personal belongings would be safe. Usually the raiding party comprises a number of personnel who roam the premises at will and it would be well neigh impossible for this one person to accompany all of them at the same time. What happens if valuable items are stolen?

Besides, giving the police such a free hand could lead to all sorts of unnecessary problems. Serious questions are being asked as to whether this is an attempt by the government under some false guise to conduct surveillance of sorts on sections of the general public. Such attempts could be aimed at the Opposition and those who are considered by the powers-that-be as critics and dissidents who could pose a serious threat to the Barisan Nasional.

The current moral panic that is being magnified by the mainstream media appears aimed at justifying this invasion of privacy. It would also appear that it is meant to convince the public that the government is the guardian of good morals in our society.

In short, the public may be hoodwinked into accepting - wittingly or otherwise - the government's green light for the police to raid homes. One wonders whether this campaign against pornographic and pirated VCDs - along with other moralistic measures taken in places such as Ipoh and Johor Baru - is a feeble attempt by the government to reclaim the moral high ground that was lost in the wake of the reformasi upheaval. If we can launch a campaign such as this with so much zeal and vigour so successfully, how is it that we are not able to mount a similar campaign with as much enthusiasm against corruption and abuse of power by the police?

Executive Committee
10 June 2003

This statement was sent to the local media including The Star, New Straits Times, and The Sun.