The media freedom and rights of the rakyat to exercise their freedom of expression that came alive during the 22-month reign of Pakatan Harapan (PH) is unfortunately going down the drain now. Recent drastic actions against by the relevant authorities on the media seem to have taken several strides backwards.
The recent series of assault on certain media organisation by the police and MCMC in particular on the investigative documentary “Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown” by the international TV station Al Jazeera first raised several eyebrows. Instead of responding intellectually with the government’s facts and figures, the journalists were subjected to hours of questioning by the police.
Soon after that, the MCMC imposed a fine on satellite TV station Astro for airing the documentary “Murder in Malaysia” more than 5 years ago! This documentary merely detailed the October 2006 murder of Altantuya which questioned if there was a link to the then Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
As if this was not enough, Finas got into the act by declaring Aljazeera did not obtain a permit to produce this film. This is indeed preposterous as the network is a locally constituted company under The Registrar of Companies which was allowed to operate like any other local TV stations. I was told that this requirement was not there for the last 14 years they had been operating in Malaysia! Does this mean the TV3, Bernama TV, RTM and other local broadcasters need to obtain Finas clearance for their short news documentaries as well? This to me sounds absolutely ridiculous.
These acts are seriously undermining the independence, freedom and professionalism of TV stations such as Al Jazeera and other media in producing and airing programmes of global standards. In my opinion, these attempts are a way of instilling fear into the foreign journalists who report issues as they are with no government spin.
Police are investigating Al Jazeera for allegedly breaching Section 22 (1) of the Finas Act 1981 (Amendment 2013) for carrying out film production activities without a valid licence from Finas. It is also being investigated for sedition and improper use of network facilities.
On top of that, on July 12, a week after the documentary was aired, the Immigration Department has also cancelled the work visa of Bangladesh citizen Md Rayhan Kabir, 25, who had in the film alleged mistreatment against migrants by the Malaysian government.
I have watched the documentary film “Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown”.
I am pretty impressed with the content of the documentary as it has present the way the police and immigration handle illegal migrants in a comprehensive manner. The Aljazeera reporter also specified that several attempts to get the Home Minister or any of his deputies were declined. If only they had responded, the story would have been different.
If the PN government doesn’t agree with the content of the documentary, it can always clarify it and tell the truth. I am sure the network would have given the airtime. The government instead chose to persecute the station and its journalists.
I am also concerned that the authorities have failed to act on the numerous death threats on 101 East journalists have received from Malaysians incensed by what they perceive to be a negative portrayal of the country. Why did the police not act on these social media monsters who had violated our laws?
Today, the media reported that MCMC had compounded Astro, the satellite television provider because it re-aired documentary “Murder in Malaysia” which detailed the October 2006 murder of Altantuya and linked it to the then Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on Astro’s Channel 153. Astro was accused of airing a programme which was “indecent” (jelik) and in breach of Section 211 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
The high-handedness of the police and MCMC actions on the crew who produced the documentary “Locked up in Malaysia’s Lockdown” in Al Jazeera and the compound slapped on Astro has certainly tarnished the image of the Perikatan Nasional government internationally.
In this context, I urge the government to actually look into mistreatment of foreign workers. Many NGOs and elected representatives have been questioning the way the government handled the migrant workers during the MCO period.
Instead of giving proper explanations to various accusations against the police and immigration, the PN government chose to take action against the journalists. The question Malaysians are asking is whether Malaysia is going back to the old ways to suppress and clamp down the media.
This appears to be the direction of PN and sadly, the ministers who are in PN and who were in the PH Cabinet are guilty of this destruction. Unless right-thinking Malaysians and those who cherish freedom and a healthy democracy stand up and be counted, we will slip down further in the Media Freedom index soon.
Teresa Kok
MP for Seputeh
Former Minister of Primary Industries