Hiebert's January 23, 1997, article, See You in Court , illustrated his point about litigiousness with several examples, the main one a lawsuit brought by Chandra Sri Ram, the wife of Appeal Court Judge Gopal Sri Ram, on behalf of their 17-year-old son against the Kuala Lumpur International School. The boy had been dropped from the school debating team and the suit demanded damages of 6 million ringgit ($2.4 million at the time).

The case was subsequently settled out of court, but not before Chandra, on January 28, swore out an affidavit, alleging that Hiebert had committed contempt of court and urging that he be jailed. On May 30, Justice Low Hop Bing of the High Court agreed that Hiebert was in contempt. Hiebert was set free after posting bail of 100,000 ringgit and surrendering his passport, which he was allowed to apply for every time he had to report outside Malaysia.

All that came to an end on September 4, 1997, when Justice Low sentenced Hiebert to three months in jail and awarded costs to Chandra. Bail, pending appeal, was raised to 250,000 ringgit and the passport, after an unsuccessful appeal to the appellate court, was frozen indefinitely. In ruling that Hiebert had "scandalized the judiciary," Justice Low declared that for "far too long, there appears to be unabated contemptuous attacks by and through the media on our judiciary . . . It is high time that our judiciary shows its abhorrence to such contemptuous conduct as is illustrated by the facts of this case."

When it dismissed his appeal, the Court of Appeal said Hiebert had chosen to "venture perilously" into contemptuous areas, and his article had "damaged the integrity and dignity" of the High Court.

Hiebert is the first journalist sent to a Malaysian jail since the country gained independence in 1957. The decision "sends a strong signal to local and foreign journalists, lawyers and activists about the limits of what they can say about the judiciary," says lawyer and human-rights activist Sivarasa Rasiah.

On the international front, American President Bill Clinton expressed "deep concern" about the fate of Hiebert, a Canadian. "Putting a journalist in jail for doing his job undermines the press freedoms that play such a critical role in building a democratic society," the White House said in a statement. In a letter to Mahathir, the New-York based Committee to Protect Journalists said it was "deeply dismayed" by the decision, adding that it is "particularly concerned that Hiebert's harsh sentence might be seen as a warning to journalists covering the politically charged trial of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose case has brought international scrutiny to Malaysia's judicial system."

The Malaysian government hasn't commented specifically on the decision, but Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad criticized the "American habit" of arresting foreign nationals for trial in the U.S., as in the case of Panamanian military leader, Manual Noriega. "He [Clinton] is free to make that statement, but if he were to send some troops here to release Hiebert, then I would call that interference," Mahathir was quoted as saying in the Malaysian daily The Star. Mahathir also staunchly defended the Malaysian judiciary's independence in a speech to a prestigious Commonwealth law conference that took place in Kuala Lumpur two days after the court case.

All this is a story Hiebert would likely have covered if he had had the chance. Although he has had a prison sentence hanging over him for two years, he has maintained his dignity, grace and professionalism throughout. Despite his inability to leave the country, his broad interests have led him down many paths: His recent stories have covered everything from the impact of Malaysia's capital controls to the raging battle over the loot from a ship that sank in the Strait of Malacca nearly 200 years ago.

Hiebert, 50, began his career with the REVIEW as a reporter in Thailand in 1987. Since then he has served as bureau chief in Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur, and has also covered Singapore. Throughout his career, during which he has also penned two books, his dedication to telling all sides of a story has helped him as he worked in some of Asia's most difficult journalistic posts.