Friday 29 Mar 2024
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(April 1): Media personnel from both mainstream and online portals today went black in solidarity with The Malaysian Insider and The Edge following the arrests of its executives and editors.

Some also took to wearing yellow ribbons, the symbol of press freedom.

Journalists from English daily The Star and news portal Malaysiakini wore black today, as did reporters covering parliamentary proceedings in the House.

The profile pictures of some media personnel on their Facebook accounts also went black, as did  Malaysiakini's homepage.

In Penang, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng also wore a black shirt under his jacket.

The DAP secretary-general said he was in black in support of media freedom.

Journalist R. Nadeswaran took to his Twitter account yesterday to call for the industry to wear black following the arrests.

"Calling all media ppl: wear BLACK tomorrow to show support for our brothers. Let's make a stand.

“Stand in solidarity. We will not be cowed," he wrote using his official handle @CitizenNades.

The Malaysian Insider managing editor Lionel Morais, Bahasa news editor Amin Iskandar and features and analysis editor Zulkifli Sulong were detained on Monday evening, after the police and personnel from the Multimedia and Communication Commission of Malaysia (MCMC) raided TMI's newsroom at the offices of The Edge Media Group in Mutiara Damansara.

They were detained overnight for sedition over a report published on March 25, which said the Conference of Rulers had rejected a proposal to amend a federal law that would pave the way for hudud to be enforced in Kelantan.

Yesterday, The Edge publisher Ho Kay Tat and The Malaysian Insider chief executive Jahabar Sadiq were also arrested after they presented themselves for questioning at the Dang Wangi police station in the morning.

Morais, Amin and Zulkifli were released on bail last night after the magistrate's court rejected the  police's application to remand them further for investigation.

Ho and Jahabar were released today on police bail. – The Malaysian Insider

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