Mainstream media 'ordered' not to report police brutality

Did Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein issue a directive to top editors in the mainstream media a day before the Bersih 3.0 rally that they should not report on incidents of police brutality?

 PKR vice-president N Surendran who posed this question said he has proof that such a directive was issued.

"If this is true, it will affect press freedom and put to question the government's intention for reform and to amend the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA)," Surendran said.

The government received brickbats for the police's violence and intimidation against the journalists at the Bersih 3.0 rally as Malaysia and the rest of the world celebrate World Press Freedom this Friday.

PKR has uncovered evidence indicating that the order to harass, obstruct and arrest journalists covering the Bersih 3.0 rally came from the highest level of the Home Ministry, Surendran said when visiting some of the injured protesters at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) yesterday.

Among those with him in HKL were PKR vice-presidents Nurul Izzah Anwar and Chua Jui Meng.

Surendran said it appeared that the police were carrying out the wishes of Hishammuddin.

"A day before Bersih 3.0, Hishammuddin ordered all chief editors of major dailies to appear before him.

"There, we were informed, the editors were given instructions on how to report news on the Bersih rally and also told to refrain from reporting on police brutality.

"It is extremely disturbing that a day after this meeting, journalists trying to record police misconduct were brutalised in an unprecedented manner," he said.

TheSun reporter Radzi Razak was injured in the incident when police charged on him and other Bersih supporters who were still lingering at Jalan Raja and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

On Sunday, when Najib visited some of the injured at Kuala Lumpur Hospital, the prime minister apologised to Radzi (left in photo) over the incident, and he and Hishammuddin promised a full investigation.

Malaysiakini photojournalist Koh Jun Lin was detained by the police for four hour and had his memory card seized from his camera when he tried to take shots of police beating up protesters.

Reveal details of pre-rally meeting

Surendran said such high-handed tactics employed by the government were further confirmed when Hishammuddin said the seizure of press photographers' equipment was a police standard operating procedure.

"This is a shocking admission of illegality and unlawful conduct of the police. This is also a serious attack on press freedom by the BN.

"Under our democratic system, the home minister has no business dictating what the media can or cannot report.

"Najib's pretense of amending the PPPA in order to allow greater press freedom is now exposed as a great sham."

Surendran wants Hishammuddin (right in photo) to reveal, within 24 hours, the full details of the instructions given to the media at the meeting the day before the Bersih rally.

"We further demand that Najib and Hishammuddin explain and answer for the brutal and organised police attacks on the media and the public on April 28. They have a duty to answer," he said.

Najib when chairing the Umno supreme council meeting on Sunday night said there were fears of the protesters occupying Dataran Merdeka for long periods.