Ambiga defends Bersih, wants minister to apologise

The claim by a minister that media personnel covering the Bersih 3.0 street rally last year were allegedly "beaten up" by demonstrators is in stark contrast to findings by the Human Rights Commission's (Suhakam) inquiry into the rally, says Bersih.

According to Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan (left), Suhakam found that members of the press were, in fact, assaulted by police during the April 28, 2012, rally and that this finding was never responded to or rebutted by the police.

She cited, among others, paragraph 114 of the commission's findings that state "...the police did physically assault, injure, intimidate or manhandle media personnel Chen Shaua Fui (from Merdeka Review), Koh Jun Lin (Malaysiakini), Mohd Radzi Abdul Razak (theSun) and Puspanathan Periannan (The Star) ... even though attempts were made on their part to identify themselves as being from the media."

Ambiga was referring to Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek's statement to Parliament yesterday that the government had nothing to do with Malaysia's drop in ranking - from the 122nd spot to the 145th - in the World Press Freedom index, but rather it was due to media "safety concern" following alleged assault of reporters by demonstrators at the rally demanding electoral reforms.

Minister blames Bersih

"It is shocking that the minister is seeking to throw the blame for the appalling standards of media freedom on Bersih, when, in fact, it is entirely the government's fault why we are in this position.

"One only has to look at the oppressive legislation in place, the lies spewed by the government media, the stifling of freedom of speech and the treatment of media who may publish contrary views, to know who is responsible,' she told Malaysiakini in an email response yesterday.

She called on Ahmad Shabery (above), who she claimed was either "misled or is misleading" the Parliament, to immediately apologise to Malaysians who attended the rally that day.

Journalist Koh, meanwhile, said the World Press Freedom Index report itself states that Malaysia's ranking had fallen due to limited access to information, repeated censorship efforts by the government, as well as "a campaign of repression by the government", such as the crackdown on Bersih 3.0 protest.

“Here, the information minister himself zooms in on one particular aspect of the report, denies the rest, and omits to inform Parliament that while one reporter was allegedly beaten by demonstrators, at least 13 others, including myself, have been on the receiving end of police brutality.

“Really, is there any wonder at all that we are not doing well on this index?” Koh asked.

In a statement, Selangor Leadership Council secretary Amirudin Shari said the Umno/BN government should strive to improve its treatment of media practitioners, instead of blaming the rakyat for the country’s press freedom standing plummeting.

“His (Ahmad Shabery's) answer is not just a covering of facts but also reflects the government’s irresponsible attitude, a far cry from the transformation BN is promising,” Amirudin said.

The minister should instead look at the overall picture when it comes to media freedom in the country, he added, pointing out that press freedom was still bad during the years 2008, 2009 and 2010, even though there had not been any Bersih gathering at that time.