The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is writing to express its deep concerns that the management of Utusan Malaysia plans to conduct a domestic inquiry against journalist and union leader Hata Wahari.
As president of the National Union of Journalists Malaysia, an IFJ affiliate, Mr Wahari is bound by the IFJ’s ‘Principles of Journalism Ethics’, which, in part says the following:
“No journalist should be directed by an employer or any person acting on behalf of the employer to commit any act or thing that the journalist believes would breach his or her professional ethics, whether defined by a code of ethics adopted by journalists collected at national level or that would infringe the international Code of Principles for the Conduct of Journalism as adopted by the IFJ. No journalist can be disciplined in any way for asserting his or her rights to act according their conscience.”
The IFJ understands that Mr Wahari is being subjected to a domestic inquiry, set for hearing on January 17, for making statements regarding legitimate professional concerns of members, particularly in regard to ethical issues facing editorial staff at Utusan Malaysia.
In making the statements, Mr Wahari was promoting ethical journalism and press freedom, which surely align with Utusan Malaysia’s interest in producing high-quality professional journalism that works to uphold the values of democracy and pluralism.
The IFJ reminds Utusan that Article 10 of Malaysia’s federal constitution guarantees freedom of expression of all citizens, which makes no exceptions on the basis of profession. As such, management of Utusan Malaysia must respect the right of any journalist or its representative to comment on the state of media freedom and issues that affect the profession or their livelihoods.
Given the points outlined above, the IFJ respectfully requests that Utusan Malaysia immediately withdraws the domestic inquiry against Mr Wahari.
Jacqueline Park is International Federation of Journalists' (IFJ) Asia-Pacific director.
