Embattled National Union of Journalists (NUJ) president Hata Wahari can now find solace in the form of a Facebook page created in support of him.

Created on Monday, the page garnered 393 ‘likes’ - people in support of the page - as at 11.15pm today.

It is not known who the creators of the page are, but they described the page as one unaffiliated with any political party.

“It is time that Malaysians stand united against bigotry and outrageous media spinning as a result of political depravity.

“Media institutions that promote hate and that instigate animosity in the name of helping their desperate masters to cling on to power (such as that which is done by Utusan Malaysia right now) should be punished,” a comment on the page said.

“It’s time that the voice of reason stands out of bigotry and political desperateness ( sic ),” it said.

Backlash from employer

Hata has been grabbing headlines since being elected president of NUJ last September.

A senior journalist with Umno-owned Utusan , he has since churned out statements lambasting media organisations over biased and racially-tinged reporting, including the newspaper he works for.

NONE He recently received a notice to appear before a domestic inquiry, scheduled for Jan 17, prompting outrage from his union and several civil society organisations.

Hata ( right ) is facing eight counts of misconduct for issuing statements to news portals Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insider and Merdeka Review, as well as The Sun newspaper, between Sept 21 and Oct 14 last year.

The notice said he stands accused of insulting the company's management and tarnishing the company’s image following his comments that appeared in several publications.

If sacked, Hata would be the third Utusan employee to face the boot for his union activities. Former NUJ president Yazid Othman as well as the NUJ-Utusan chairperson Amran Ahmad had previously been dismissed during their tenure in office.