Irate UTC guard who scolded and took reporter’s phone condemned
People had been queuing up outside the immigration office at the UTC since early this morning.
KUALA LUMPUR: Muda today slammed the actions of an immigration department security guard who threatened and intimidated reporters surveying long queues at the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) in Pudu Sentral here this morning.
Muda info chief Luqman Long said the reporters were doing their job in the public’s interest and should not be treated that way.
“You cannot stop journalists from carrying out their duty in a public area such as (the) UTC. As long as they have a media pass, they should be allowed to do their work.
“Any form of intimidation and harassment against journalists is wrong. I’m concerned for the safety of our media friends on duty if such an incident occurs again,” he tweeted.
Earlier, two reporters from The Vibes news portal claimed they were harassed by an angry security guard who insisted they leave the premises.
The reporters uploaded a video of the security guard shouting at the top of his voice, demanding that they immediately leave the area outside the immigration office at the UTC, where people had been queuing up since early this morning.
One of the reporters was then seen in the video asking the crowd if they had waited for more than five hours, which saw many in the queue raising their hands. The video was interrupted after the other reporter, who was recording the scene, had her phone confiscated by the same guard.
Gerakan Media Marah (Geramm), a journalists’ activist group, condemned the security guard’s actions.
In a Facebook post, they said the issue could have been resolved professionally but instead the guard in question had resorted to intimidation and aggression by taking away the reporter’s phone.
Geramm said there should be laws criminalising any act of intimidation and aggression against media personnel.
KUALA LUMPUR: Muda today slammed the actions of an immigration department security guard who threatened and intimidated reporters surveying long queues at the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) in Pudu Sentral here this morning.
Muda info chief Luqman Long said the reporters were doing their job in the public’s interest and should not be treated that way.
“You cannot stop journalists from carrying out their duty in a public area such as (the) UTC. As long as they have a media pass, they should be allowed to do their work.
“Any form of intimidation and harassment against journalists is wrong. I’m concerned for the safety of our media friends on duty if such an incident occurs again,” he tweeted.
Earlier, two reporters from The Vibes news portal claimed they were harassed by an angry security guard who insisted they leave the premises.
The reporters uploaded a video of the security guard shouting at the top of his voice, demanding that they immediately leave the area outside the immigration office at the UTC, where people had been queuing up since early this morning.
One of the reporters was then seen in the video asking the crowd if they had waited for more than five hours, which saw many in the queue raising their hands. The video was interrupted after the other reporter, who was recording the scene, had her phone confiscated by the same guard.
Gerakan Media Marah (Geramm), a journalists’ activist group, condemned the security guard’s actions.
In a Facebook post, they said the issue could have been resolved professionally but instead the guard in question had resorted to intimidation and aggression by taking away the reporter’s phone.
Geramm said there should be laws criminalising any act of intimidation and aggression against media personnel.
The reporter knowingly, by her own accord, took on an assignment in a zone rife with armed violence.
ReplyDeleteThat she was shot dead is a tragic fact, but the allegation that she was deliberately shot by Israel is not backed by evidence.
The US has called for an investigation is correct, but condemning Israel outright is not supported by facts.