Malaysia’s Court of Appeal has officially upheld the government’s ban on the film Mentega Terbang, affirming that the Home Minister holds the constitutional authority to prohibit works deemed contrary to the public interest. The unanimous decision by a three-member bench dismissed an appeal filed by the film’s director, Khairi Anwar Jailani, and producer, Tan Meng Kheng, who had sought to challenge the legality of the 2023 prohibition order.
The legal dispute centered on Section 26 of the Film Censorship Act 2002, which grants the Home Minister power to ban films. The filmmakers argued that this provision was overly broad and infringed upon their constitutional right to freedom of speech. They contended that the ban was irrational and had caused them significant financial harm by preventing the distribution and exhibition of their work.
In delivering the court’s decision, Justice Ong Chee Kwan clarified that the minister’s power is not absolute but must be interpreted within the framework of the Federal Constitution. The court ruled that the term public interest is specifically limited to matters concerning national security, public order, and morality. Consequently, the bench found that the minister acted lawfully and that there was sufficient objective material to justify the decision.
This objective material included reports from the Film Censorship Board, the Islamic Development Department, the Special Branch, and various police complaints. The court emphasized that judicial review is limited to assessing the legality of the decision-making process rather than substituting the court’s own opinion for that of the minister. As a result, the prohibition on the exhibition, distribution, and promotion of the film remains in effect.