Journalist groups condemn arrest of TMI editors
Police should immediately release the three editors of The Malaysian Insider (TMI) as their detention over a news article related to hudud was needless and an abuse of power, journalist groups say.
The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) said the raid on TMI's office and the arrest of managing editor Lionel Morais, Bahasa Malaysia news editor Amin Shah Iskandar and features and analysis editor Zulkifli Sulong, was part of a worrying trend of a decline in standards of freedom of expression in Malaysia.
"CIJ questions the high-handedness of the raid and arrests. Should the article have been found to be incorrect, it could have been rebutted and TMI requested to retract it or publish a correction," said CIJ's directors, Sonia Randhawa and Jac Kee, in a statement last night.
"Even if the police wanted to initiate investigations, they could have requested for the requisite information from TMI instead of raiding their office and arresting their editors."
CIJ said it was no secret that TMI published the article in question, nor was TMI denying authorship of the article.
It said there was also no need to detain the three editors overnight or apply for their remand.
"It is embarrassing and appalling that the law is being utilised in this manner and this constitutes an assault on the rule of law.
"CIJ calls for the immediate release of TMI's editors and a cessation of the authorities' arbitrary crackdown on the freedom of expression," said the directors.
The editors were arrested yesterday when police, aided by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) officials raided TMI's office in Mutiara Damansara.
The arrests came as part of investigations after a police report was lodged by an official from the Conference of Rulers last week.
Lawyer Syahredzan Johan said the trio were being investigated under Section 4 of the Sedition Act and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
They were held at the Dang Wangi police headquarters last night and police are expected to apply for their remand orders today.
The report, published on March 25, said that the Conference of Rulers had rejected a proposal to amend a federal law that would pave the way for hudud to be enforced in Kelantan.
The Keeper of the Rulers' Seal lodged a police report on March 26 to deny that the Conference of Rulers had discussed the matter, saying it had never issued any statement on hudud in Kelantan.
On Sunday, Kedah Umno Youth filed a police report against TMI and called for stern action against the portal over the report, while Barisan Nasional MPs also complained about the matter in Parliament.
Meanwhile, Geramm, a loose coalition of journalists and activists fighting for press freedom, today described the arrests as an excessive use of police powers against the media.
"We view the act as a form of intimidation and harassment, as well as an attempt to use undue influence to silence the media," it said in a statement.
"While we note that a police report was lodged and that the institution of royalty and its dignity should be protected, so must be the freedom of the media which in itself is an institution in democratic Malaysia."
The group said journalists were duty bound to provide information to the public, "even if it's in the realm of speculation".
"As such, any attempts to curtail the media's ability to perform its duties is a violation of public's right to information and a threat to democracy."
Geramm said if parties were unhappy with any media report, they should engage with the media organisation to clarify and respond to the article, rather than criminalise the reporting of news.
"Geramm urges the powers that be and especially our moderate Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, to take notice and stop such tactics of intimidation and the use of draconian laws such as the Sedition Act which is no longer in line with international standards."
Malaysia has continuously ranked low in the World Press Freedom Index, and critics have accused the government of controlling or harassing the media.
On March 23, three employees of business radio station BFM, including Aisyah Tajuddin, were questioned by police over a video BFM had uploaded regarding hudud in Kelantan.
Last year, the radio station was quizzed in December over an interview it aired that was allegedly insensitive and insulting to Muslims, and was also fined RM10,000 in October by MCMC for broadcasting an interview with Muslim scholar Reza Aslan.
In 2008, a journalist from Sin Chew Daily News was arrested at her home under the now-repealed Internal Security Act, after she reported on former Bukit Bendera Umno chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail's allegedly racist remarks while campaigning for the Permatang Pauh by-election. – March 31, 2015.
