Abu Zahar takes media to task over ‘inaccurate picture’

PUTRAJAYA: Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang says misreporting by the media had portrayed an “inaccurate picture” of the share trading issue involving Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki.

The MACC Anti-Corruption Advisory Board (ACAB) chairman said the press conference he gave on Jan 5 was not reported in full by the media, resulting in the public receiving the “wrong perspective” on the issue.

“The 13-page statement that I had issued during my Jan 5 press conference was unfortunately not reported in its entirety by some media outlets, which caused the public to get a wrong perception of the issue.

“Aside from issues involving Tan Sri Azam Baki, there were also other things that the advisory board had given its views on, but none of it were touched by the media.

“Instead, a video of my press conference that portrayed only a small portion of my statement that day went viral.

“I need to come up with this press statement to put certain things in the correct perspective,” he told reporters at the MACC headquarters here yesterday.

However, yesterday’s press conference was a brief 15-minute affair where Abu Zahar read from a prepared text. He did not take any questions from the media.

“Today I’m here to deliver a statement to the media and I hope the press can report it in full so that there will not be any more misunderstanding among the public on the issue. The full statement will be handed out to all and I believe that there is no need for me to take any questions,” he said.

In the Jan 5 press conference, Abu Zahar said the ACAB was satisfied by the explanation given by Azam on the share trading issue during an internal inquiry on Nov 5.

However, six other members of the ACAB distanced themselves from Abu Zahar’s statement, saying that it was his personal view of the matter.