Malaysia’s courts are the country’s last bastion of its constitutional freedoms, the rule of law and human rights in the face of an abusive regime. Today it ruled with good sense that a respected news organisation, Malaysiakini, should receive a printing licence, not as a ‘privilege’ that can be withheld by biased and fickle politicians, but as a basic right. The Home Minister has been refusing to grant Malaysiakini a licence, because his political party, UMNO doesn’t own or control the paper. This will be exactly why over half the population will support the court judgement, because over half the population voted to turf UMNO out of office at the last election and do not want to be restricted to UMNO propaganda outlets to get their news. So, don’t let BN politicise the courts by influencing the appointment of judges, in order that they can brush aside the rule of law in future. This is exactly the pressure they will attempt to bring to bear if they insist on taking the appeal to the Federal Court.