Sibu police chief ACP Nicholas Sebastian said the barring of reporters from police stations in Sibu was a directive issued by Bukit Aman police headquarters.

Contacted yesterday, Nicholas said he was obeying orders which were issued nationwide to all police districts, but made no comment of his threats to arrest reporters under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for violating the restriction.

"We are just conforming with a directive from (the federal) HQ to prevent reporters from loitering in the compounds," he said when contacted yesterday.

Reporters and the police 'clashed' recently as police began restricting reporters from crimes scenes and recently, police compounds.

Sibu crime reporters said they need access to stories in the town's new district police headquarters but the police remained adamant in their stand.

Last month, reporters were asked to leave the crime scene in Salim near Sibu after policemen had shot three crime suspects.

The result was a deadlock, as decades-long fostered relationship between the two sides was seemingly ruined.

Clampdown on gangsters

Since early last month, police have begun cordoning off reporters from crime scenes and its new police station, which began operations May 1.

The move came following a clampdown by Bukit Aman on gangsters in Sarawak.

However, Nicholas explained that the move was not related to the on-going operations against organised crime in the state.

"No, it has nothing to do with that. It was a directive issued to all police districts throughout the country," he said.

He did not elaborate on the reasons behind the directive. He said it was to prevent loitering.

"We don't want reporters to sit in the police station 24 hours a day doing nothing. It disrupts the public who are coming in to lodge reports."

"The reporters have to adjust. They're doing this in Semenanjung (Peninsular Malaysia). Just follow the orders. They can meet me any time but they cannot enter the area," he said.

Asked how reporters would obtain information from the police, Nicholas said, "If they want to clarify information, they can see our special public relations officers. But not within our compound. They can meet outside the compound."

On the problems where information is restricted, Nicholas said, "They have sources outside of the police. It's up to them [who those sources are]. They cannot be completely dependent on the police. We are tied by the OSA. We have to follow orders," he said.

Never happened before

In addition to announcing that reporters cannot enter without permission, the police also announced that reporters must have police permission to write stories from its press conferences.

Yesterday, the Borneo Post reported that reporters were told that crime news can only be obtained from ACP Nicholas and in his absence, from his deputy.

"What we can write and what we cannot write will be discussed. This is the spirit of understanding that we used to have, and for decades, there has never been any such problem.

"Crime reporters in Sibu are professional and matured enough to handle this," a reporter was quoted as saying in a press conference on Thursday. Nicholas was not present.

The media also reported that Nicholas had threatened to arrest reporters under the OSA on Tuesday.

"We know what we can write and what we cannot write. There has always been understanding and goodwill between the police and the media," said the reporter, adding that such a threat had never been uttered before.