Al Jazeera team maintains documentary reporting was fair, says lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR: The Al Jazeera team has maintained that their reporting on a documentary here was fair, says their lawyer.

Lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, when met outside Bukit Aman on Friday (July 10), said his clients will cooperate fully with police investigations.

“The documentary as depicted was balanced and fair. It catered views from different sides. In fact, attempts were made to seek government response. But these responses did not come.

“Despite the fact, footage was used from government releases and was put in the documentary,” he said.

He maintained that no mischief was intended during the production of the documentary.

“You all are journalists and you know how important it is to portray a report as fair, balanced and accurate. And this was done by the Al Jazeera team,” he said.

When asked how many of the team were present at Bukit Aman, the lawyer refused to comment, stating safety issues.

“In fact, one report has been lodged at the Dang Wangi police station because the staff member felt threatened. We hope the police will investigate the report and give the necessary protection to the employees of Al Jazeera,” he said.

Many Malaysians have slammed the 25-minute documentary and accused Al Jazeera of “unfair reporting”.

The documentary highlighted the government's actions on migrants while dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is believed that angry comments online led the broadcaster to disable the comment section on its YouTube channel.

On Monday (July 6), Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had also called for Al Jazeera to apologise for coming up with an allegedly false report on the country.