MORE PICS – Nathaniel Tan-PKR Website Admin Remanded 4 days; Held overnight at Dang Wangi Lock-up; Johari: Police Investigates Websites Spreading Lies

ABOVE Poster: Credits to Mob's Crib
Nathaniel Tan PKR's Webmaster was detained & arrested on Friday 13th Jul 2007 & on the next day was produced at the Magistrate court where a remand order was obtained to detain him for 4 days

The breaking news from Malaysiakini was headlined:

Now that the Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Mohd Johari has been cleared of the accusations for RM5M bride taking, he is now flexing his muscles and power asking for his “pound of flesh”. If he can accused the IGP of the bribes charges, what is there to stop him to “punish” those spreading the lies in the websites (see Bernama report dated 14^th Jul 07, date stamped 17:43 pm below).

And Nathaniel Tan who dared to publish his offending post on Dec 22 2006 is now being investigated. They cannot find the actual poster in freewebs and since Nat has provided the link in the comment section, is he now held responsible for leaking this OSA document?

And the comment came from

Also according to his sister, they are fishing for information on his appointment as the Exec Secretary to Anwar , Chairperson FoundationForFuture Organisation. FFF has a US400,000 grant waiting for disposal

Nat is being investigated under Section 8 of OSA which covers wrongful communication, etc. of official secret.

(1) If any person having in his possession or control any official secret or any secret official code word, countersign or password which —
(a) relates to or is used in a prohibited place or relates to anything in such a place;
(b) relates to munitions of war and to other apparatus, equipment and machinery which are used in the maintenance of the safety and security of Malaysia;
(c) has been made or obtained in contravention of this Act;
(d) has been entrusted in confidence to him by any public officer; or
(e) he has made or obtained, or to which he has had access, owing to his position as a person who holds or has held office in the public service, or as a person who holds, or has held a contract made on behalf of the Government, or as a person who is or has been employed by or under a person who holds or has held such an office or contract,
does any of the following:
(i) communicates directly or indirectly any such information or thing to any foreign country other than any foreign country to which he is duly authorized to communicate it, or any person other than a person to whom he is duly authorized to communicate it or to whom it is his duty to communicate it;
(ii) uses any such official secret or thing as aforesaid for the benefit of any foreign country other than any foreign country for whose benefit he is duly authorized to use it, or in any other manner prejudicial to the safety or interests of Malaysia;
(iii) retains in his possession or control any such thing as aforesaid when he has no right to retain it, or when it is contrary to his duty to retain it, or fails to comply with all lawful directions issued by lawful authority with regard to the return or disposal thereof; or
(iv) fails to take reasonable care of, or so conducts himself as to endanger the safety or secrecy of, any such official secret or thing,
he shall be guilty of an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than one year but not exceeding seven years.
(2) If any person receives any official secret or any secret official code word, countersign or password knowing or having reasonable ground to believe at the time when he receives it, that the official secret, code word, countersign or password is communicated to him in contravention of this Act, he shall, unless he proves that the communication to him of the official secret, code word, countersign or password was contrary to his desire, be guilty of an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than one year but not exceeding seven years.

and from elizabethwong.wordpress

This is what Sivarasa Rasiah, the lead counsel for Nat, said outside the courts after the remand hearing:-

“We are revisiting 1998 - this is a political detention.
“The remand serves no purpose except to put him (Nat) under duress. “He has given his full cooperation; they have taken documents, CD-Roms and computers from his office, home and car.
“If the remand is for investigation, why continue to detain him when he has given everything? This is a ‘fishing’ expedition. There is clearly another agenda behind this.
“This is purely an act of oppression. I want to go on record that his detention is political motivated.” Sivarasa also said that the documents and CD-Roms seized from Nat’s home, office and car, were not limited to this so-called investigation but his job as the Secretary to the Chairman of the Foundation for the Future, Anwar Ibrahim.

He added that since the computers and documents were already in the possession of the police, there is no reason to keep him there. “Nat has the legal right to silence. He will not say a word. So to keep him inside is like punishing him.”When asked what was the role of the Bukit Aman’s Cyber-Crime Division, it was said that they were mainly involved in information-mining of Nat’s computers (creeps). The Investigating Officer is DSP Victor, his boss ACP Tn Kamaruddin. Sivarasa also mentioned that the news story which appeared in The Star today is “false and malicious”. (I wish to add - ditto for Sin Chew’s frontpage news) which reported that Nat was arrested over the photoshopped work - “French Dinner for Three”. Sivarasa said they will consider seeking a revision on Monday. He also said that Nat is in good spirits but there’s no drinking water available in the lockup, so he has to resort to drinking tap water.= == = = ==

= == = = Saturday July 14, 2007 Nathaniel Tan remanded for four days under OSA

By ANDREW SAGAYAM ; STAR

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) information bureau staff Nathaniel Tan, 27, has been remanded for four days under the Official secrets Act (OSA). Tan, who is also secretary of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's Foundation for Future, is believed to been remanded under the Section 8 of the OSA over allegations that he had documents linked to Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Johari Baharom's alleged involvement in corruption.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Najib Abd Aziz confirmed the arrest and remand. He said that the case was being investigated by the Federal Commercial Crimes department but declined to comment further when asked on the nature of the probe. Tan, who maintains the opposition party's website was arrested from his office in Phileo Damansara on Friday evening by three Special Branch policemen from Bukit Aman. Police sources said the Cyber Crime Unit at the Federal Commercial Crimes department headquarters in Jalan Dato Onn was questioning Tan.

= == = =July 14, 2007 17:43 PM

Police Asked To Investigate Websites Spreading Lies

JITRA, July 14 (Bernama) -- Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Baharom (ABOVE) who himself was slandered on the Internet that he had taken bribes, wants the Police to initiate investigations to trace writers spreading lies through websites. He said that he had instructed the Police's Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) to undertake the investigations and bring the culprits to book. "Now all kinds of slander about the nation's leaders are being spread through the Internet. The Police must act to prevent them from tarnishing the image of the country," he told reporters after the opening of the delegates meetings of the Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings of Kubang Pasu Umno here today. Umno Information Chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib graced the function. On Wednesday, Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail ordered the Anti-Corruption Agency to close investigations into the bribery allegations against Johari as there was no evidence to link him to accusations that he had received RM5 million to release several suspected criminals who had been held under the Emergency Ordinance 1969. The investigations were initiated after the allegations against him were posted on an anonymous website. Johari, who is also the Member of Parliament for Kubang Pasu and the head of its Umno division, said he thanked God that the truth had prevailed and was relieved the episode was over. He said now he could fully concentrate on his government duties and also prepare for the upcoming general election. "I also received many SMSes (on the short-messaging-service) from Kubang Pasu Umno members voicing their support for me. It gave me added strength to weather the challenging period (corruption allegations) in my life," he added.

= == = = ==The STAR has a brief account of his arrest in the early edition; Sin Chew also mentioned the arrest was over the “doctored” photo= ==

Nation, STAR, Saturday July 14, 2007

Anwar’s aide held over doctored DPM pictures

PETALING JAYA: An aide of Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was arrested, believed to be in connection with a doctored picture of Deputy Prime Minister which was posted on the Internet. Lawyer Latheefa Koya said three police officers took Nathaniel Tan away from his office at Phileo Damansara here at 4.45pm yesterday. “Tan was asked to follow the officers to Bukit Aman for questioning. He was also asked to bring along his laptop,” she said when met at Bukit Aman. She and several party leaders including information chief Tian Chua were at the police headquarters to enquire about Tan’s arrest. Latheefa said police did not give any reasons for his arrest.
Tan is a prominent blogger and also in-charge of PKR’s website. A statement issued by PKR said Tan was a Harvard University graduate and was active in non-government organisations. It said he was Anwar’s secretary in the Foundation for Future.
Police could not be reached for comment.
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UPDATE on his Remand – first hand account from his sister Cheryl website H E R E

i think the parents and i are going to try to go visit the brother soon ish. not sure though. li tsin went home to get stuff and blog i think.
um my brain is really fuzzy right now and i don’t actually understand a lot of what’s going on, so i’m just trying to relay the information la.
so…recapping everything… we went to the courtroom and entered through the Orang Kena Tuduh entrance and were rudely pushed out. we saw nat with latheefa and sivarasa. eventually we were let in again. the magistrate woman was dealing with another twenty or so orange baju people who i guess were also being remanded. this was probably not long after the lawyers had first been given access to nat at all. a sneaky cop fellow sat down behind us (on the bench in front of them) and eavesdropped. mr uthayakumar asked him to go but he didn’t want to so then mr u started scolding him. then the magistrate woman got damn pissed at him for like interrupting and not going straight to her etc etc. she was just in a really pissy mood all day la. maybe cos she had to work on saturday, or cos there were lawyers intervening (oh got story about that too).
then she left to make a phone call. when she came back in, she suddenly was like public all get out…shrug, okay… so we sat outside and waited la..waited waited..
so, it transpired that actually latheefa and sivarasa didn’t even know that nat was there! the police or whoever totally neglected to tell them (maybe the time of the hearing had been changed cos it was originally 4.30 right) even though they knew that pkr was representing nat. they sort of sneakily snuck him in and tried to get away with not telling the lawyers, it is suspected. luckily, the uthayakumar dude happened to be there for another remanding, saw nat in handcuffs and realized what was going on. he called the other lawyers and they RUSHED to jalan duta.
so there were photographers and bloggers and party members just waiting around outside, talking. wondering what was going on. i think there were some interesting things said, but i can’t quite recall them now. i blogged every other thing that happened la, though.
then a couple of hours later, the lawyers came out and told us the results. apparently if we had been quicker to get there we would have seen nat too, and some of the photographers managed to get a shot.
then my dad’s phone decided to screw me and freeze so i lost like almost all my blogging information!!!! but this is besides the point
okay, so. nat’s been remanded for four days, although the cops asked for the max, fourteen. if i’m not mistaken they actually don’t have any cause whatsoever to hold him even for that amount of time. whatever it is they want to investigate is in nat’s computer (and possibly his monitor cos they took that too) and his cd roms and laptop or whatever, because he’s going to exercise his right to remain silent and he doesn’t have to tell them anything. they already seized all his crap, what do they need him there for?
the justification that they gave, i think, is that it’s very technical so they need to hold him for questioning. i think they may even have mentioned like forensics or some such rubbish. …….ya……. but that’s not his job, so why should they be able to keep him?
the charge he is ‘helping them to investigate’ definitely has to do with johari baharum. read the supposedly official secret document here . anyway, they’re trying to get nat for publishing the Official Secret Document. but he didn’t even publish the whole thing. plus its available on the actual author’s site, and i’m sure many many others. so it’s a very flimsy excuse la in other words.
sivarasa dude said a few things. he says that the detainment is entirely political, designed to put nat under duress and scare people. they have no cause to keep him for four days, so there must be a prawn at the back of the stone. he also said that they’re just trying to pry him for information and are picking on him mostly because he is new. they are fishing for information.

speculation in general is that this has to do with foundation for the future. this is what takes up most of nat’s time these days. perhaps they think that there is lots of confidential stuff about FFF in nat’s monitor.

i think that’s about it for now. if i remember anything else i’ll post it. i think we should be going to see him soon, although it might be getting kind of late. li tsin is moving in for a few days, i think. :D

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BACKGROUND: On his arrest

Nathaniel is a 27 year old graduate from Harvard University.was recruited by his good friend Tian Chua to work under KeADILan’s Information Bureau. And Last month, he was appointed as the Executive Secretary for the chairperson of the Foundation for the Future (FFF), Anwar Ibrahim. Nat Tan was arrested at around 4.30 pm on Friday the 13th.July 2007. Nathaniel, who is a PKR information bureau staff, also helps maintain the party's website. He was considered ‘missing’ for almost 6 hours, until the police finally admitted they had him in their custody at about 10.30pm

His last post was also pertaining to Johari:

Our police force is now operating like Gestapo. Their priority is not combating crime to protect citizens’ safety, instead they act promptly and speedily to defend the oppressive regime. Johari vs. Musa: Law Enforcers Squabble, Criminals Roam Free

Posted on July 11th, 2007 by nathaniel tan

He is unlikely to be free today as he was now taken to the Jalan Duta Remand Court (Saturday, 1.00pm) for remand hearings according to his sisters Blog posting at 12.26pm

First hand account by Eng Kiat, who was with him during arrest, report via Tian’s Blog

Eng Kiat who is working with Nat as a part-time journalist for our website recalls the incident of arrest:

“At 4.40pm this evening, three Malay men knocked on Yayasan Aman’s (Unit G801 Pusat Dagangan Phileo Damansara 1, Jalan 16/11, 46350 Petaling Jaya) glass door, which was not locked, and I (seated adjacent to the door) motioned for them to come in.One of them requested for Nathaniel Tan, “Siapa Nathaniel Tan?”. Upon which Nathaniel stood up and identified himself.

The same person explained that they were police, “Kami polis”, but no proof of identification was offered, and requested for Nathaniel’s identification card. Upon checking and recording his particulars, he told Nat to cooperate and follow them. At the same time, a second officer asked for my Identification Card, which I promptly took out, and recorded my Name, IC number, and Address. He also asked for the office address, and wrote it down below my particulars.Meanwhile, the leader who recorded Nathaniel’s information asked Nathaniel to cooperate and follow them because they “wanted to talk”. “Tolong bekerjasama dan ikut kami sekejap, kami nak cakap sedikit.”

Hesitantly, Nathaniel asked them what the matter was about, and got the reply “Nak cakap tentang Internet.” The man insisted Nathaniel followed them but Nathaniel asked why they couldn’t just talk at the office. The man reiterated that Nathaniel should cooperate and follow them. The man then asked Nathaniel whether he owned the laptop he was working on, to which Nathaniel said yes, and was then asked to switch it off.

“Tolong tutup komputer dan bawa sekali.” Nathaniel then packed up. I asked the leader if this was an arrest, but they said “Bukan, hanya nak siasat sedikit.” Nathaniel then started following them out, and Encik Ismail (the office manager of Yayasan Aman) then came out from the back (his room is at the back portion of the office), and the Policemen asked him a few questions, which I did not hear. Nathaniel then followed them out and into the elevators. I then called Tian Chua to inform him. From Eng Kiat’s description of the situation, Nat was clearly not informed of his reason of arrest. The police officers lied that no arrest was made, but later at night we found that Nat was held in IPD Dang Wangi lock-up.”

ABOVE & BELOW: The candle light vigil for Nat Tan at Bukit Aman lklst night

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ABOVE Tian Chua, PHR Info chief and BELOW: PKR Youth Chief Shamsul ISkandar Addreresing the supporters keeping a vigil to free Nat

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July 08, 2007 16:27 PM PKR Practises Unethical Politics, Says Najib

BUTTERWORTH, July 8 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has described Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) as a party that practises unethical politics by concocting malicious stories to defame national leaders.

The Deputy Prime Minister said he himself as well as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had been victims of untrue, vicious stories. "They are so bent on connecting me (with a case), that they even came up with a doctored photograph of me," Najib said when opening the delegates' meeting of the Batu Kawan Umno division here.

He did not elaborate on the photograph but on Friday, PKR Information chief Tian Chua admitted creating and posting a doctored photograph showing Najib with a woman said to be part-time Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu (before her murder) on his blogsite and refused to apologise for his action.
"This is unethical politics. In whatever we do, we must have ethics. We must not simply accuse others of wrongdoing when we knowingly commit the same mistake. Eventually, everybody will know, and I believe even the rural folk know," Najib said. He also criticised its (PKR) top leaders who quit Umno due to personal problems and not on the question of party or government policies.
"What were they doing when they were in Umno? Why did they quit Umno? When hey've quit, suddenly everything about Umno is not right to them," said Najib. The Umno deputy president said he regarded their actions as being inconsistent and unprincipled.
"We must have principles in politics, but these people are singing a different tune from when they were in UMNO." Najib said Umno had been recognised internationally as a democratic party accepted by the component parties in the Barisan Nasional (BN) as the backbone of the government, while PKR since recently had been trying to take over that role.

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July 08, 2007 19:53 PM

Be Prepared In Tackling Opposition's Unbecoming Tactics - Hishammuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 (Bernama) -- The opposition's rude actions in demeaning national leaders must be curtailed, Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said today. He said Umno Youth must be prepared for this as it was not impossible for the unbecoming actions to continue. "This shows that they (opposition) are desperate. Umno Youth will compile all their transgressions and expose them to the public," he told reporters here after opening the Gombak Umno division's Youth delegates' meeting here. Hishammuddin was reacting to the action by Parti Keadilan Rakyat information chief Tian Chua who last Friday admitted doctoring and posting a photograph on his blog to show Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak together with part-time Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu. The doctored picture also showed the two with political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda who is now on trial for abetting the murder of Altantuya in October last year.
Tian refused to apologise and retract the picture, claiming it was merely a fantasy and work of art Meanwhile, Umno Youth deputy head Khairy Jamaluddin has described Tian Chua's action as a tactic to cover up the mounting troubles in PKR. Khairy said the opposition would resort to dirty strategies and tactics to attack government party leaders to hide their own weaknesses.
"So he (Tian Chua) did something sensational, which is baseless and malicious. If he does not apologise for his action, we will respond at the political front," he said to reporters after opening the Bukit Bintang Umno division's delegates' conference here.

Khairy said the Barisan Nasional (BN), in particular Umno, would not resort to "gangster" politics as the answer to the arrogant actions of opposition leaders, but would instead use the proper channels in facing them.
"The proper arena is the general election, the by-elections and parliament, and not by taking cheap shots at individuals through the Internet, or resort to cheap politics and other unbecoming actions. It's wrong. So, we will ensure that that there will be no place for Tian Chua and other PKR leaders to legitimise their actions," he added.
In RANAU, Umno Youth executive council member Datuk Mukhriz Tun Mahathir called on Tian Chua to apologise openly to Najib and Umno for putting up the doctored photograph.

He said Umno Youth objected strongly to his action which was aimed at tarnishing the image of Umno and nation's leaders. "We want Tian Chua to apologise, otherwise action should be taken against him," Mukhriz told Bernama after opening the Ranau Umno Youth delegates' conference today. He said the opposition was now running out of issues and hence, resorted to spreading false or malicious stories to gain the people's support.
Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh also agreed that the opposition had run out of ideas and so had to use the Internet to attack Umno leaders. Idris, who is also Terengganu Menteri Besar, suggested that Umno Youth act fast to counter the false allegations made by the opposition. He had earlier opened the Cheras Umno division's delegates' conference.

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July 06, 2007 18:19 PM

Bernama Admits Error In Naming Website On Super-imposed Pix

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 (Bernama) -- Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) did not carry on its official website any photograph purported to portray the Deputy Prime Minister being flanked by a woman who looked like Altantuya Shaariibuu, the part-time Mongolian model who has been murdered, and political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda. BERNAMA had inadvertently in a July 4 news report, headlined "PKR Leader Criticised For Deriding National Leader", indicated that the photograph was carried on the PKR website when it was actually posted on a website belonging to a leader of that party. We apologise for the error.

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July 05, 2007 17:42 PM

Tian Chua Admits Responsibility For Publishing Fake Photo
KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 (Bernama) -- Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) information head Tian Chua has refused to apologise for publishing the fake photograph linking Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to Altantuya Shaaribuu in his web blog.
He admitted that the photograph which he had created personally was merely fantasy and a work of art but insisted that he would not retract the photograph nor apologise to anyone.
"I did it myself and it was not done professionally. If there had been such a dinner, that is how it will be perceived. The woman in the photograph was not the real Altantuya," he told reporters at the PKR office, here.
Yesterday, several members of Parliament had lambasted a PKR leader for deriding a national leader by publishing the fake photograph of Najib being flanked by the murdered Mongolian woman, Altantuya, and political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda.
The members of parliament, when met at the Parliament lobby, said the antics of the PKR leader concerned in publishing the `superimposed' photograph of Najib were despicable and shameful.

Asked whether the police had called him up concerning the matter, Tian Chua replied "not yet", and considered that what he had done was not an offence where action could be taken.

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2007/07/09
Chua: It’s not an issue

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Keadilan Rakyat information chief Tian Chua said he would not respond to demands by Barisan Nasional leaders that he withdraw and apologise over a doctored photograph posted on his blog. "They have a right to differ with me and I also have a right to have a different opinion from theirs," he said yesterday. He said he did not understand why the "caricature" had become an issue. However, a visit to Tian Chua’s website revealed that even his blog readers criticised the posting of the obviously superimposed picture of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak with Abdul Razak Baginda and a woman. "Just bite the bullet and apologise. If Najib plays this right, he will not even sue you (of which you will definitely lose), and be seen as the bigger man," one reader said.

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July 02, 2007 23:56 PM
Mainstream Media Still The Best Channel - Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 (Bernama) -- The mainstream media is still the best channel for the government to relay information and messages including on the role of the Malaysian Defence Forces and the national defence policy.
The mainstream media's role, however, had become more challenging with the emergence of alternative media through the internet, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said here tonight.

"The alternative media, via blogsites, report many things that can be disputed because nobody knows the person behind the news. This is where the mainstream media is special," he said at the Defence Media Awards Night.
Najib who is Defence Minister said the media could disseminate information on the importance of national security and defence to the people especially when the awareness on security was sometimes at its lows.
He said that to face the competition with the alternative media, the mainstream media had to publish coverage based on accurate facts and convincing news.
The Defence Media Awards were dominated by Utusan Malaysia that won the best newspaper award and best journalist award through Hamden Ramli.
Other recipients were Mohd Fuad Md Nor (best magazine journalist), Raja Faizal Raja Hisham Shah of The Star (best photographer) and TV3 (best television coverage).
The winners received RM4,000 and a trophy and certificate each