Media groups condemn death threat against journalist

PETALING JAYA: Media groups have condemned the death threat made against an English daily reporter.

The National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJ) and Gerakan Media Merdeka (Geramm) condemned the incident, in which a New Straits Times Press reporter received the death threat via email on Sunday (Sept 8).

"NUJ strongly condemns this kind of act which is tantamount to a criminal case and whoever is responsible for doing such a threat must be investigated and bring to justice immediately by the police," said its secretary-general Chin Sung Chew.

He noted that the reporter, who is also a member of the union, has since filed a police report on the matter.

However, there is no indication of the identity of the said reporter or the reason behind the death threat.

"Whoever is not happy or satisfied with any news reports published has his or her right to file a complaint through proper channels provided instead of taking such a heinous act of making death threats to the journalist concerned," Chin said in a statement Monday (Sept 9).

He said NUJ urges its members and journalists not to tolerate any form of verbal or written threats from anyone and immediately report to the authorities.

"A journalist has his or her right to pursue the truth in reporting as long as it's based on facts and no one can hinder them from doing so by taking the law into their own hands," he said, adding that the union will continue monitoring for the safety of journalists.

Meanwhile, Geramm, in a separate statement, supports NUJ's statement, urging all their members and all media practitioners to not stay silent if threatened in any way.

It also urged the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to take immediate actions to identify and investigate the individual responsible for the threat.

"We would like to stress that threats in any form against the media is an unacceptable and condemned act," said Geramm.