Defence minister's aide: Al Jazeera never asked for interview before airing film

An aide to Ismail Sabri Yaacob told the police yesterday that Al Jazeera never sought a reply from the defence minister before it aired a documentary alleging mistreatment of migrant workers by Malaysian authorities.

According to The Malaysia Gazette, Ruhaidini Abdul Kadir was questioned by Bukit Aman over the “Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown” documentary yesterday afternoon.

“The police only took our statements on Al Jazeera. Bukit Aman’s move to take our statements is just part of a normal procedure.

“Al Jazeera never made a request, whether for an interview or information from Ismail, until they aired the documentary.

“They made the interview request only after the documentary came out, and that’s why Ismail (below) decided not to give Al Jazeera any comments,” Ruhaidini was quoted as saying after being questioned.

She also told the police that the documentary contained “many wrong and inaccurate facts” that gave the impression Malaysia had oppressed foreign nationals.

In its almost 26-minute episode, Al Jazeera said it had made several requests to interview Ismail, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin and Hamzah’s deputy, but the requests were declined.

The news agency reiterated this claim after it came under fire for its reporting.

Aside from Ismail’s press secretary, the police also took statements from Hamzah’s press secretary Zulkifli Bujang and Deputy Home Minister Ismail Mohamed Said’s private secretary Normazalina Mohd Nor.

Zulkifli said he was questioned on whether the Qatar-based international news organisation had permission to air the documentary.

“Bukit Aman called us to give our statements in relation to the Al Jazeera documentary case. We just gave whatever cooperation appropriate.

“We have also been involved in Covid-19 operations. Therefore (determining) whether or not their report was accurate involves information from us on whether permission from the Home Ministry was obtained before the documentary was aired,” Zulkifli was quoted as saying.

According to the report, the trio left the federal police headquarters about 90 minutes after they arrived at 2pm.

Al Jazeera has come under intense criticism from Putrajaya after airing the clip on July 3.

Ismail refuted the claim that authorities had been “racist” against migrants while Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said the report had “damaged” Malaysia’s image.

Police are investigating Al Jazeera and have questioned six of its journalists, while Md Rayhan Kabir, a migrant worker interviewed in the documentary, has had his work permit revoked and will be deported.

On Tuesday, police and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) officers raided Al Jazeera’s KL office, Astro and UnifiTV for airing the documentary.

Media rights groups have since criticised Putrajaya, characterising the raids as yet another crackdown on press freedom.

Al Jazeera has repeatedly stood by its reporting and condemned intimidation against its journalists and interviewees.  - Mkini

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