PETALING JAYA: The Centre for Independent Journalism reprimanded the Malaysian print media for their lop-sided reporting on the Azwan Ismail video that was first made by a group called Seksualiti Merdeka.
“While we recognise newspapers’ prerogative to report quotes calling for action to be taken against gay Muslims, we are critical of the lack of balance in the news reporting on this issue,” said the NGO in a press statement.
CIJ also noted that on the whole there were “little or no attempt to obtain Azwan or Seksualiti Merdeka’s response to the criticism that has arisen; nor have other human rights and civil society groups been asked for their informed opinions”.
The media advocacy group also queried why local press opted to quote AFP, an international news agency when the story is a local story.
The Sun was the only print media that stood out as it had given balanced reporting on this issue.
CIJ also condemned the death threats against Azwan from various parties.
Azwan, an engineer, shot to fame after he stated his sexual preference in a video entitled, “I am Gay, I am Okay”.
The video was first aired in an event organised by Seksualiti Merdeka.
His open statement, however, did not go down well with many quarters.
The Malay dailies and the community made their displeasure known via various cyber platforms.
Some even went to the extent of issuing death threats against Azwan.
One prominent Muslim blogger took the government to task for its failure in curbing the spread of gay and lesbian activities.
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