Journalists, do not lose heart!

By admin-s On Apr 1, 2015

Actual acts of sedition (whatever they may be or determined to be, today or tomorrow) should not be confused with the possibility of plain bad reporting.

Azrul Mohd Khalib, MMO

Have you ever done the following? Entertained any notion, fantasy or wet dream of having a change in government, felt upset and spoken out against strange and unfair policies. Stated that equality is better than today’s state of inequality among the people of this country. Reported on developments critical to the country’s future. Rallied people to show their concern through civil disobedience and peaceful assembly in the best Gandhian tradition of Satyagraha principles.

If you have done or thought of any of the above, according to the standards of the day, you could be considered seditious or at least be investigated. Based on the actions of the police thus far, the bar is today that low with the insecurity of those in authority that high.

As of today, 114 people have been arrested this month for exercising their right to the freedom of speech and assembly as provided for under the Federal Constitution. 114 people in a single month.

An outside observer might be forgiven for thinking that we are some banana republic or basket case as opposed to a thriving democratic country, guided by a Parliamentary monarchy, elected representatives and a Constitution.

Many of us are concerned about the recent arrests of four editors and the publisher of The Malaysian Insider over an allegedly erroneous news report discussing hudud and the Conference of Rulers.

Without a doubt, media freedom does not mean freedom to publish wrong or false articles or indulge in malicious and unethical conduct. However, actual acts of sedition (whatever they may be or determined to be, today or tomorrow) should not be confused with the possibility of plain bad reporting.

If the report was inaccurate or just wrong, the representatives from the Conference of Rulers could have issued a statement pointing that out. TMI would then make an apology or retract the article. That is how it is done in developed countries and it is that simple.

There is no justification to arrest and remand media personnel when the authorities could have just as easily conducted their investigations into such matters in a normal manner, without throwing editors and journalists into detention.