Exposing Social Injustice Under Malaysia’s Lockdown
A whistleblower who featured in the programme was arrested, detained and deported back to his native Bangladesh after an extensive manhunt. His only crime was expressing his opinion. Despite refusing our requests for interviews and access to government press conferences, members of the government criticised our programme. However, they failed to produce any evidence to refute the allegations or information presented. International organisations like Human Rights Watch and Malaysian humanitarian groups defended the veracity of 101 East’s programme, which has been viewed more than 2 million times online. The police investigation into 101 East staff was widely condemned by a range of press freedom organisations and received international media coverage. We were buoyed by the support and solidarity shown by local and foreign journalists and rights groups around the world. 101 East is not the only media organisation that has been the target of the Malaysian government’s crackdown on media freedom. Local journalists have continued to suffer legal harassment, threats and police investigations, with Malaysia dropping more than any other country in this year’s World Press Freedom Index, falling 18 ranks.
Cracking down on independent media during the pandemic is unfortunately not unique to Malaysia, with reports indicating that leaders in a number of countries are increasingly trying to silence critical voices during the pandemic. 101 East is committed to Al Jazeera’s mandate to provide a voice for the voiceless and to report impartially, without fear or favour, while upholding the fundamental journalistic tenet of protecting our sources. Holding the powerful to account must remain front and centre as we stand united with journalists everywhere that press freedom is under threat and continue to push back against attempts to curtail media freedom and to punish journalists simply for doing their jobs. ********* “Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown” won a Human Rights Press Prize from the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club. The programme was also a finalist in the One World Media’s Coronavirus Reporting Awards, with one judge commenting: “The piece had amazing access and the filmmakers really made an effort to try and find people affected to tell this story. It was risky work but the impact was it struck fear in the Malaysian Government.”
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