Malaysia

Authorities in Malaysia should halt their investigation into Malaysiakini reporter Susan Loone who could face sedition charges in connection with a critical article she published in early September, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Loone was detained and interrogated by police for more than nine hours on September 4, according to reports. She was released on bail and is being...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has joined the National Union of Journalists, Malaysia (NUJM) in condemning the inquiry by police to investigate journalist Susan Loone, in a classic case of shooting the messenger after she published comments made by a Penang Executive Councillor, Phee Boon Poh. Loone was detained on September 4, after she wrote an article, which included quotes...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the ruling by the Federal Court of Malaysia to uphold the laws deeming it illegal for non-Islamic publications to use the word ‘Allah’. The IFJ expresses strong concern for these laws, which will restrict freedom of expression and freedom of religion in the Muslim-majority nation. On June 23, the Federal Court of Malaysia ended a...

Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned daily Utusan Malaysia’s decision on 21 April to fire one of its journalists, Hata Wahari, because he accused it of failing to provide the public with objective news coverage in the run-up to last year’s elections. “By firing Wahari, Utusan Malaysia’s management has just confirmed the correctness of his criticism,” RSF...

Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned the way that Hata Wahari, the president of the National Union Of Journalists Malaysia (NUJ), is being treated by his newspaper, the Kuala Lumpur-based daily Utusan Malaysia. The newspaper is owned by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), a political party that has played a dominant role in Malaysia since...

Many opposition and news websites have fallen victim to distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) in the run-up to Saturday’s election in Malaysia’s eastern state of Sarawak (on the island of Borneo), which is posing a challenge to Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s 30-year-old rule of the state. “It is sad to see that election campaigns and freedom of information do not go together in Malaysia...

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Malaysia has regretted yet another reprimand was issued by the Home Ministry to the press, this time to The Star newspaper. The Star stated that it was reprimanded for a March 9 article on the impounding of 5,000 Bibles in the national language, Malay. The Star was reportedly reminded by the Home Ministry's chief secretary Zaitun Abdul Samad that...

An insensitive cartoon by a Malaysian daily showing the Japanese superhero Ultraman running helter-skelter from the massive tsunami has sparked an outrage in the country, prompting the newspaper to tender a public apology. Berita Harian newspaper, the Malay-language daily, on its front page Monday apologised for the offending caricature of the popular Japanese icon running away from an oncoming...

Vietnamese cyber-dissident Vu Quang Thuan’s deportation by Malaysia and his arrest by the Vietnamese authorities on arrival at Ho Chi Minh City airport on February 2 has been condemned by Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). He is now facing a possible 20-year jail sentence of a charge of anti-state propaganda. No date has been set for his trial. Aged 44 and a leader of...

Malaysian authorities have arrested cartoonist Zulkifli Awar Ulhaque, also known as Zunar, a contributor to the popular news site Malaysiakini and author of a new collection of political cartoons, New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Police raided Zunar's Kuala Lumpur office and arrested him under the Sedition Act on Friday, just before the scheduled release of his...