The Federal Court has fixed Oct 12 to hear Malaysiakini's bid to review and set aside its decision to find the online media organisation guilty of contempt of court over five readers' comments.

The news portal’s counsel Surendra Ananth today confirmed that the hearing date was fixed during case management of the matter before the Federal Court Registry earlier today.

“The hearing has been fixed on Oct 12,” the lawyer said when contacted this afternoon.

In May this year, Surendra helped file the review application.

In its application, Malaysiakini applied for the contempt conviction to be set aside so that the case could be re-heard before the Federal Court.

“The majority of the Federal Court, in coming to its decision on Feb 19, 2021, dealt with certain issues and/or matters without providing the applicant (Malaysiakini) an opportunity to be heard on the same.

“This was a breach of the rules of natural justice.

“The majority decision contravenes Section 98(2) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998,” the motion states.

Section 98(2) of the act stipulates that compliance with a registered voluntary industry code shall be a defence against any prosecution, action or proceeding of any nature.

The apex court judges who made the majority 6-1 ruling were Court of Appeal president Rohana Yusof, Chief Judge of the High Court of Malaya Azahar Mohamed, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court judges Mohd Zawawi Salleh, Vernon Ong Lam Kiat and Abdul Rahman Sebli.

The lone dissenting decision was from Federal Court judge Nallini Pathmanathan, who held that Malaysiakini was not in contempt over the readers’ comments.

The bench in its finding meted out an RM500,000 fine on Malaysiakini, far higher than even the RM200,000 sought by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Through a fundraising campaign, the news portal was able to raise the amount and more in one day.

Part of the excess fund from this crowdfunding campaign will be used for the present application.

Malaysiakini’s conviction made international headlines.

Civil society organisations, politicians, and diplomats have raised concerns over the effect of the decision on press freedom in Malaysia.

Lawyers and journalist groups have also expressed worries about how newsrooms are now expected to police readers’ comments, possibly leading to public discourse being curtailed.