On July 12, daily The Star, New Straits Times and online news site Malaysiakini.com reported that the organiser barred media coverage for the hearing, contrary to when it was first held on 8 July in the state of Johor. The organiser reportedly announced that the hearing yesterday was meant to be a close-door meeting and asked reporters to leave.

Chairman of the Parliamentary Caucus, Nazri Aziz told the media that the public was reluctant to speak when the media was present. The ban is said to extend to future hearings slated in other states.

CIJ is concerned that the public is denied their right to know, in this case about their right to protection from crime when media is restricted to report about the issue. A check by CIJ on media reports revealed that some of the national dailies did not carry any news about the hearing. The Chairman's excuse for barring the media has disproportionately caused the majority of Malaysians who did not attend the hearing to be ill-informed about the issue.

We ask the Chairman of the Parliamentary Caucus to allow media coverage of the hearings as the Parliament and its bodies and committees should be open and accountable to the public.

Issued by

Gayathry Venkiteswaran
Executive Director

For more information, please contact Wai Fong at 03 40230772