Signs of threats to press freedom last year were alarming across the world, including Malaysia where free press was said to be increasingly rare , according to the latest annual report published by international media watch group Reporters Sans Frontieres.
The France-based RSF said the situation had worsened since the Sept 11 terror attacks on the United States.
On the pretext of fighting terrorism, many regimes have openly targeted journalists who dare to raise questions, accusing them of playing into the hands of those who plant bombs, said the group in its report of more than 700 pages.
In the 150 countries closely monitored, the figures of repression of journalists rose compared with the previous years some 500 journalists were arrested (up by 50 percent), 700 threatened or physically attacked (up by 40 percent), and 400 media organisations censured (up by 30 percent).
The record also showed that 116 journalists were imprisoned and 31 killed last year while performing their duty, eight in Afghanistan.
The annual report is to be published on May 3 in conjunction with the International Press Freedom Day celebration. RSF will release its latest list of Predators of press freedom as well.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was identified as one of the 39 predators last November alongside Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, Congo president Joseph Kabila, Afghan-Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, Chinese premier Jiang Zemin, and Cuban president Fidel Castro.
Deterioration
However, RSF stressed in its report that it was not just authoritarian regimes but also democratic states which had jeopardised press freedom.
In the United States, there has been the Patriot Act and other measures to curb the flow of information on the Internet, it said.
The deterioration in press freedom marks a radical change from past years, especially during the first decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 when press freedom was steadily advancing, it added.
This period is [however] over. The major powers now have other priorities and are less concerned about whether those marching behind the anti-terrorist banner are respecting human rights and press freedom or not, it said.
As for Malaysia, RSF concluded that Prime Minister Mahathir, staunch advocate of Asian democracy, had done everything in his power to hinder independent journalists and to block the distribution of critical foreign publications .
The local media were said to be controlled by groups close to the government and all publications are wary of the Printing Presses and Publications Act which requires a renewal of publishing permit annually.
List of abuses
The government, RSF went on, has been infringing on press freedom for the past year by:
Arresting
malaysiakini
columnist Hishamuddin Rais under the Internal Security Act in April. The pro-reform Hishamuddin is being detained for two years along with five other opposition leaders for allegedly trying to overthrow the government via militant means.
Arresting three journalists during a demonstration against the ISA at the Kamunting Detention Centre, Perak in October. The trio were held for more than 24 hours by police before they were released without charge.
Harassing retail agents of opposition publications such as PAS organ
Harakah
and confiscating copies of those publications. Two dealers of pro-reform magazine
Haraki
were arrested by police in January while many others were often threatened with arrest.
Barring journalists from
malaysiakini
from government press conferences on the ground that the news portal did not have press licence, though such authorisation is not required for online media.
Threatening to act against
malaysiakini
if it was discovered that the online daily was receiving fund from Open Society Institute run by George Soros, whom Mahathir had singled out as the culprit for the 1997 regional financial crisis.
Blocking and delaying the distribution of foreign news weeklies such as
Time, Far Eastern Economic Review
and the now defunct
Asiaweek
without accountability or explanation.
Accusing
malaysiakini
and opposition parties of sedition for contesting the official assessment of the Petaling Jaya Selatan racial clashes in March which saw six people killed and more than 50 injured. Youth section of the dominant Umno also filed suit against five foreign media
South China Morning Post, International Herald Tribune, The Times, Agence France-Presse
and
Associated Press
for suggesting that police were hiding information from the public about the clashes.
Warning the foreign media about the economic consequences of their criticism of the government and advising Malaysian journalists working for foreign media not to be used to destroy national harmony in March.
Giving the green light in May to MCA, the second largest component party within the ruling coalition, to purchase Nanyang Press Holdings which published two major Chinese dailies
Nanyang Siang Pau
and
China Press
; despite strong public protests. Many key editorial staff and journalists of the newspapers who opposed the deal were sacked or asked to leave after the takeover.
Announcing in July an effort to draft a code of content for websites despite the governments promise six years ago not to impose censorship on the Internet in order to lure foreign investors into the newly-launched Multimedia Super Corridor then.
Ransacking the offices of
Harakah
in August for cassette tapes and video compact discs that contained recordings of banned political speeches.
Sacking with immediate effect A Samad Ismail, Mazlan Nordin, and Zainon Ahmad from their post as editorial advisors of the Umno-linked
New Strait Times
in September. Though the company cited financial difficulties for the decision, many believed that it could be related to the appointment of Abdullah Ahmad, a man close to Mahathir, as the new editor-in-chief.
Banning a radio programme from the Time Highway Radio in November. The authorities felt that the programme, Arch to Happiness a late-night talk show for women to speak out, especially about their sexuality was revolting in a Muslim country.
