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KUALA LUMPUR – An Agenda Daily journalist has condemned the actions of a prime minister’s aide who lodged a police report against him for supposedly defaming Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob through a political commentary published on the portal last month.
Md Izwan Zubit, who now finds himself at the centre of police investigations, said the aide’s decision to lodge a police report instead of approaching the news agency for clarification only proves their political immaturity, and reluctance to accept criticism.
He said the article, titled ‘Ismail Sabri bimbang jadi PM paling singkat, “rayu” jangan tarik sokongan’ (Ismail Sabri worried of being the shortest-serving PM, “pleads” to not withdraw support), was merely a political analysis and commentary written by him and his editor, similar to those published by other news portals.
“It depends on each portal to come up with their own analysis, so if they cannot accept the views or criticism of others, it just shows their immaturity, especially coming from the prime minister’s office.
“As a prime minister he needs to be more open and mature when evaluating such issues, and to instead make a note of the positives and not only focus on the negative perceptions,” Izwan said.
The journalist made these comments outside the Dang Wangi district police headquarters this afternoon, after spending at least 90 minutes recording his statement with investigators.
Izwan condemned that such actions are being taken against the media, saying it puts unnecessary pressure on news portals, forcing them to worry about police reports being lodged against their work.
“What was written in the article is not slander, it would have been slander if we accused the prime minister of doing something against the law, but we did not.
“It was just an analysis with added views, which I feel the prime minister should not get offended by or take it to heart,” he added.
He also expressed his hope that no one else in power will resort to lodging police reports against news portals if they disagree with contents of certain write-ups, and to instead act reasonably.
The article in question was published on the Agenda Daily portal on January 30 this year without a by-line.
Its contents were centred around Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) conditional support for Umno to govern at the federal level, views on hypothetical scenarios that Ismail Sabri might come up against, and conundrums of the current political scene.
Izwan today included how he was paid a visit by investigators from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission at the Agenda Daily office several days ago to record his statements over the article.
He noted his case is being investigated under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. – The Vibes, February 5, 2022
