PETITION OF RIGHTS AS INDEPENDENT MUSICIANS AND MUSIC LOVERS

"They robbed us of our youth"
"They robbed us of our Rights"

Youths who have built their own community of based on original music and art with positive values have been severely misrepresented by the Malaysian Media and harassed by Authorities who have acted out of a misguided notion of 'religious values' and 'justice'.

The mainstream media (notably Harian Metro, Kosmo & Mastika) has misguided the Malaysian general public by tarnishing the image of decent youths as a scheme to promote their business while the authorities have unjustifiably abused their powers and infringed the democratic rights of these youth.

These youths, consisting of independent musicians and music lovers, aiming to create a contemporary society of varied Malaysian music flavors and culture, have been labeled out of ignorance on as 'satanic worshippers'.

On December 3rd 2005, a private event in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, billed as "Wrath of the Eastern Steel" was raided despite the fact that the organizers had a valid permit to run the event for their own friends and music fans. They were then labeled by the media as 'Virgin Sacrificing Satanic Worshippers' and 'Defilers of the Holy Quran'. Kosmo & Harian Metro neither used reliable sources nor provided a balanced report of the event. Instead, they published sensationalized reports that clearly breached the Malaysian Journalism Code of Ethics or any Journalism code of ethics for that matter.

On December 31st 2005, the police from the Brickfields Police Station (who had the mainstream media in tow) carried out a raid at Paul's Place in Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur, on the pretext that it was 'Black Metal' event. Patrons, bands and anyone who happened to fit a 'Devil Worshipper's profile' (wearing black or dark attire) in proximity of the venue were detained by the police. When asked for the basis of their detention, the authorities gave excuses ranging from 'indecent exposure' to 'participating in a satanic occult gathering and ceremony'. They were reprimanded without a valid cause and sent to the Brickfields Police Station at 10pm.

One detainee, who was celebrating his birthday, suffered the humiliation of being detained at the police compound under the glaring eyes of the media who were present and pre-informed. With their cameras in his face, his was misrepresented via the mainstream electronic media Malaysia as one of the faces of a 'satanic occult members'.

They were forced to undergo urine tests similar to an event in Seremban and faced the continuous lashing from the media's defamatory labeling as 'occultists'. The police did not even take their statements and left them to leave after all the hassle.

We, the victims of the mainstream media's unethical reporting and sensationalist motivation and the authority's unjust and unlawful actions, urge you to sign the petition to defend our rights to listen to music and express ourselves without being unjustly persecuted or harassed.

We urge you to sign for the Ketua Polis Daerah Brickfields, Assistant Commissioner Mohd Dzuraidi Ibrahim apologize publicly through the media to all detainees and Editors of Harian Metro, Mastika and Kosmo to resign from their posts.

We plead for your support, as we do not want this to happen again in future and allow the following generations of young Malaysians to be victims of such unlawful and unethical actions. Stop the injustice! Sign this petition