Malaysiakini May 1, 2012
Putrajaya has moved to soothe relations with news organisations following the aftermath of the Bersih 3.0 rally, where the police were accused of injuring at least a dozen journalists.
It is learned that Minister in the Prime Minister Department, Koh Tsu Koon, got the ball rolling during a meeting with editors from several Chinese dailies today.
Also present at the meeting were Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s Chinese affairs assistant Wong Nai Chee and press secretary Joan Lai.
During the meeting, at a restaurant in Petaling Jaya, editors were asked to share their views on Bersih 3.0 and comment on the alleged high-handedness of the police against journalists.
Meanwhile, all major news organisations will be meeting police representatives at a meeting at Bukit Aman national police headquarters tomorrow.
According to a source, the details of the meeting were not revealed to the news organisations, but it is believed to be related to the Bersih 3.0 rally.
However, Malaysiakini is among those organisations not invited to this meeting.
What was Hisham’s directive?
Earlier today, PKR vice-president N Surendran had accused the Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein of summoning media bosses to a briefing a day prior to Bersih 3.0, where he alleged they were instructed to play down acts of police violence.
Surendran said that PKR has evidence of this which proves that Najib’s vows to reform press laws ring hollow.
Although Malay and English newspapers have generally been muted on police violence against journalists on Saturday, Chinese dailies have been highlighting the issue up until today.
Yesterday, the China Press carried a front-page story with pictures of 13 injured journalists under the heading ‘Victims of violence at the rally, what did the journalists do wrong?’
The National Union of Journalists has also urged the authorities to investigate the matter and book errant police personnel.