KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — Several Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs today called for legal action against a news portal over its report claiming the Conference of Rulers had objected to PAS’s proposed legislative amendments on hudud.

The lawmakers, which included Tanjong Karang MP Datuk Seri Noh Omar, Titiwangsa MP Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani and Lenggong MP Datuk Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, said that the news portal, The Malaysian Insider (TMI) had behaved “irresponsibly” in its report on the issue.

They also accused the portal of reporting “twisted facts” in another article on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s speech on the Sedition Act during yesterday’s Police Day celebration.

“The Malaysian Insider is an irresponsible portal that has twisted the facts involving the royal institution, and today, twisted the words of the prime minister… they cannot be let off like that,” Noh told the Parliament.

Johari said the alleged oversight should be taken seriously and that if no action is taken, it would embolden the public to further abuse the social media.

“In this latest case, I feel it is best that we investigate with the Malaysian Multimedia and Communications Commission (MCMC) so that this sets an example, especially when it involves religion,” he added, saying that should the matter not be put to rest, it will become an issue.

Shamsul Anuar also echoed his colleagues’ sentiment, saying if the issue was ignored, it “could ruin the country.”

“This matter can ruin the country. It has touched on two important institutions; the prime minister and ridiculed the royal institution,” he said.

De facto law minister Nancy Shukri responded by saying that the issue would have to undergo the usual process of investigation before any action can be taken.

“As usual, we need a police report and there must be an investigation done and only after that will the case be referred to the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC), and if there is a case I am sure it will be dealt with accordingly,” she replied in her winding up speech.

Yesterday, TMI carried a report claiming the Conference of Rulers had rejected Kelantan’s proposed amendments to a federal law meant to enable the enforcement of hudud.

A Kelantan government leader, however, later disputed the article and this evening, a police report was lodged by the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal who denied that the Rulers’ council had ever discussed the amendments at its meetings.

TMI also irked the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday, after allegedly misreporting Najib’s comments on the Sedition Act.

According to PMO’s tweets on the matter, the news portal had wrongly quoted Najib as saying that “We need Sedition Act to curb terrorism”.

Najib’s press handlers, however, said that Najib had in his speech said that the Sedition Act needed to be strengthened to prioritise racial and religious harmony.

“We wld like 2 clarify an inaccurate story by The Msian Insider today. PM @NajibRazak did not say Sedition Act is needed 2 curb terrorism”

“In his speech, PM @NajibRazak said: “We also prioritise racial & religious harmony,that is why we need to strengthen the Sedition Act,” the tweet read.

Another tweet further claimed that despite a request to rectify the mistake to TMI, a correction on the article is yet to be made.

Today, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar tweeted that TMI will be called in for questioning over its erroneous reports.

“@PDRMsia akan panggil Ket Editor @tm_insider yg cenderung melapurkan Berita tidak betul dan mengelirukan. PDRM nak tau apa motif TMI ini,” he wrote on the microblogging site.

[Translation: The Royal Malaysian police will summon the editors of The Malaysian Insider, which has a tendency of reporting inaccurate and confusing news. PDRM wants to know what TMI’s motives are]

Khalid did not specify which report or reports he was referring to.