KUALA LUMPUR – PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang today trained his guns at the press, saying they have committed a huge sin for inciting the “public punishment” of individuals yet to be convicted.
The Marang MP noted that the media had been reporting about a person’s misconduct before it was even raised before the judiciary, but did not go into details of who he was referring to.
He said Islam mandates that a person’s dignity be respected even if it is abundantly clear he may have committed an offence, and doing otherwise would constitute a sin.
“Islam stresses that even a person who has been charged (in court) is still considered innocent as long as he is not proven guilty,” he said in a lengthy post published on PAS’ mouthpiece Harakah Daily.
“As such, media that drag the public into punishing an individual before a verdict is even made commit a very big sin.”
According to Hadi, the press’ approach in reporting on crimes and cases of misconduct before official judgment is made in court is a concept of “media freedom” championed by the western world, which upholds democracy.
He questioned if all western practices should be adopted to the point that they create misperceptions and misguided and misleading narratives.
“The secular western community does not have any reckoning of dosa and pahala (sins and virtues).
“Do we want to be spoiled on this earth and dragged to hell in the afterlife, similar to those who have gone astray?
“Islam implements the scales of justice through the judiciary system. At the same time, it forbids injustice by those who disparage the legal process.”
Hadi, who is Malaysia’s special envoy to the Middle East, said it is very unfortunate that a country gives the media freedom to supersede the judiciary, when even God acts in a fair manner.
“What’s more unfortunate is if a society, drowned in ignorance, is involved in passing judgment on someone,” he said.
Hadi’s statement today comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki over his potential breach in allowing his brother to use his trading account.
The Securities Commission is looking into the possibility of alleged impropriety with the cooperation of police, which have forwarded to the SC a police report lodged on the matter. – The Vibes, January 9, 2022
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