The Malaysian lawyer representing a 13-year-old Filipina girl alleged to have been raped by Sabah police officers today urged the media not to identify the teenager after reading press reports naming her.

"Although there is no written code, media ethics requires protection of the identity of young offenders. In this case, it is worse, we are talking about the identity of a young victim," said Ng Aik Guan.

"We can quibble that there is no case at present but (the press) should also not prematurely do damage to the girl by naming her," he told malaysiakini .

Ng was referring to a report in the New Straits Times yesterday in which the 13-year-old girl was identified.

Mahathir's press statement

Several local dailies have also named the girl in their reports after receiving a press statement from Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Sept 5 in which the girl's identity was revealed.

On Sept 6, malaysiakini reported National Union of Journalist general-secretary Hong Boon How as saying that it is "not appropriate" for the press to publish names of survivors of sex-related crimes as it will place additional stress on the person.

Vice-president of the Malaysian Association for the Protection of Children, Aneeta Kulasegaran, had also pointed out that there are provisions in the Child Act 2001 which restricts the press from identifying children concerned in a criminal case that is under investigation.

When contacted, a spokesperson for NST managing editor Rose Ismail, declined to comment on the matter, saying that comments can only be given with the approval of editor-in-chief Abdullah Ahmad who is currently abroad.

AG's discretion

In a related matter, Ng said that he and another Malaysian lawyer, Gerald John, were invited to meet with Philippines President Gloria Arroyo on Monday in Manila after agreeing to represent the girl.

"I was approached by the Philippines ambassador to Malaysia who asked if I could offer assistance to his government. After assessing the situation, we agreed to do this pro bono (free of charge)," he said although declining to elaborate on his meeting with Arroyo.

Ng said if there is sufficient evidence confirmed by police investigations and if it is shown that the girl is below 16 years of age, there could be a possible charge of statutory rape against the suspected offenders.

"Ultimately, whether there is a case or not will depend entirely on the discretion of the public prosecutor's office," Ng stressed.

Relations between Malaysia and the Philippines had been strained since last month over allegations that Filipino illegal immigrants were poorly treated by Malaysian officials while in detention.

On hearing the report, Arroyo had personally written a letter to Mahathir expressing her outrage and demanding for actions against the perpetrators of the rape of the 13-year-old girl.

On Monday, the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters said that Malaysian police will be going to Zamboanga in southern Philippines to interview the girl.