More flowers, and a protest, at Edge, TMI
Bouquets and brickbats were brought to The Edge and The Malaysian Insider's (TMI) office today, with two civil society groups turning up with more flowers in a show of support over the recent arrests of editors and executives, while a pro-Malay rights group held a small protest outside the building.
Ho Yock Lin from Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia and Stanley Yong Yew Wei from the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall's Civil Rights Committee came to present flowers and two calligraphy paintings which read “On the truth, nothing but the truth” and "Viva freedom of expression".
Yong said the media should not be harassed and urged the government to respect press freedom.
“Until the government or any agency can prove that the report is fabricated, they should bring in the media concerned, but not in an aggressive manner,” he said.
The groups also issued a statement, endorsed by 50 other non-governmental organisations, urging the police to respect the rights of Malaysians and to stop harassing the media.
The pro-Malay rights group, Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM), meanwhile, held a demonstration of about a dozen people who called for The Edge, TMI and BFM radio – which are all under The Edge Media Group – to be shut down for insulting the Malay rulers.
They also want The Edge Media Group owner Datuk Tong Kooi Ong to be investigated for sedition and asked him to turn himself in to the police within a week.
They said they would file a police report against Tong at the Dang Wangi police station tomorrow.
The TMI report published on March 25 that got five editors and executives arrested was about the Conference of Rulers' rejection of a proposal to amend a federal law that would pave the way for hudud to be enforced in Kelantan. – April 2, 2015.
