Photo from thestar.com. |
MALOLOS CITY—Asian journalists hit Malaysian government
and demanded greater transparency on armed stand-off in Sabah.
This came as three journalists of the Al-Jazeera
including a Filipina covering the said stand-off were detained and interrogated
by Malaysian authorities.
In a one page statement released Lon February 26,,
Makati-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) along with
Malaysia’s Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and the Southeast Asian
Press Alliance (Seapa) secretariat based in Bangkok demanded that Malaysian
authorities follow two short term measures.
One, make public the boundaries of the “no-go security
zone” in the affected area to ensure civilians and media do not endanger their
lives by breaching the limits.
Two, hold periodic press conferences to update the media
on the “political negotiations” which are taking place to ensure media (and
therefore public) official access to information around this public interest
issue. This move will also allay the fear and uncertainty among people in the
area and address the rumors abound in Malaysia regarding the “political
negotiations/standoff” in Lahad Datu.
For medium term, the journalists groups also urged “the
setting up a committee comprising of the authorities, journalists, editors,
journalist union, media advocacy groups, human rights organizations and other
civil society groups, to draw up a "standard operating procedure" on
how security authorities should deal with the media during conflict situations,
using UNESCO guidelines as the benchmark.”
The groups said they understand the national security concerns as a result of the armed standoff, however, they expressed alarm over the length of detention of the three journalists and the secrecy surrounding the identity of the interrogating officers to be unnecessary given that the ones being questioned were not criminal suspects but journalists on duty and identifiable as such.
Photo from www.untvweb.com |
The statement added “we view the vague restrictions
imposed on journalists covering the Lahad Datu “political negotiation/standoff”
as an attempt at limiting journalists’ access at providing accurate, timely and
fair coverage of a public interest security issue, especially given the looming
elections in Malaysia.”
They stressed that “it is even more important for the
media to have adequate and safe access to be able to report on the situation
accurately, given the impact on diplomatic relations between Philippines and
Malaysia.”
On February 19, the three person news team of Al-Jazeera
arrived in Sabah to report the “standoff“ between an armed group calling itself
the “Royal Sulu Sultanate Army” and the Malaysian authorities which started on
February 14.
The news team is composed of Al-Jazeera senior Asia
correspondent Steve Chao, cameraman Mark Giddens and Filipina producer Jamela
Aisha Alindogan.
The journalists were placed under the detention of
Malaysian authorities for at least six hours, during which they were
intercepted at sea off Tanjung Labian village, escorted to a local police
station, transferred to another police station 30 minutes’ drive away while
under armed escort, and questioned by the Malaysian Special Branch, before
being released.
Citing statement issued by Al-Jazeera on February 22 and
eyewitness accounts, the CMRF said that “the three were questioned for 30
minutes to two and half hours each, sometimes together but also separately.
Alindogan, a Filipina attached to the Al Jazeera English Network office in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was questioned the longest at 2 1/2 hours, and was
accused several times of working for the Royal Sulu Sultanate Army, despite
showing the authorities her employee ID.”
While the journalists were treated politely throughout
the whole detention period, the statement said that “interrogating officers
were not in uniform and when asked, declined to provide their full names or
rank.”
They also noted that as journalists attached to
international media organizations, Chao,
Alindongan and Giddens, are equipped and trained to provide coverage during
wars, standoffs, riots, uprisings and other hostile environments.
The statement also said the Malaysian authorities claimed
that the security zone around the standoff area was off-limit to civilians and
media to avoid “disrupt(ing) political negotiations” with the “Royal Sulu
Sultanate Army” and that this was a “sensitive political situation”.
It further said, “the Malaysian authorities also said
they were not allowed to specify the boundaries of the “no-go security zone”
but acknowledged that when intercepted, the boat with the journalists on board
was far from the “no-go security zone” and that the journalists had not broken
any laws.” Dino Balabo
No comments:
Post a Comment