Gabriel wrote in his letter

that he feels it is embarrassing for malaysiakini to publish reports o­n the claims made by Saari Sungib, an Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee. While I understand where Gabriel is coming from, and his concerns of the sensationalising of claims that were probably made up by the interrogators, I must say that I applaud malaysiakini for actually publishing the story.

Free journalism is about reporting things as they happen. Journalists are not supposed to judge the truthfulness of the claims made by Saari. They are supposed to judge if it was true that Saari made those claims. If Saari did make those claims, then it is a responsibility of malaysiakini to publish it as it is. The report was o­n Saari's claims. Not o­n the existence of the so-called FIT (Federal Investigation Team) he quoted of his interrogators.

If Gabriel reads newspapers in the United Kingdom for example, he would find that the press here publishes stories as they occur. This is how a free press should work. Obviously the reports must have some significant relevance to the readers first. And Saari's story is indeed relevant to us because through this report, we can see how the interrogators use despicable ways to terrorise and intimidate detainees.

It would be irresponsible for malaysiakini to stay quiet if they knew that an ISA detainee has made those claims. Whether those claims are true or not is up to the authorities to respond. If the authorities did respond, and then it was proven that the claims were false, then malaysiakini would again have to report o­n this.

Basically, Gabriel must understand that the report was o­n what has been said by Saari. Not o­n the truthfulness of Saari's claims. And we should all applaud malaysiakini for publishing this story. And woe to those other "mainstream" media who decided to chicken out and not say even a word.