International press freedom advocate Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned today StarFM’s crumbling to “government pressure” into sacking its 988 FM station radio host Jamaluddin Ibrahim and chief executive officer Wong Lai Ngo ( below ).

988 radio jamal ibrahim and wong lai ngo sacked In a statement released late today, RSF’s new media desk head Lucie Morillon said Malaysia has been among a host of countries that it keeps under surveillance for its restrictions on press freedom.

The Paris-based organisation was reacting to the dismissal today by MCA-controlled StarFM of Jamaluddin and Wong following claims by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) that 988 FM had on Aug 13 breached broadcasting licence regulations.

The alleged violation pertained to conditions that broadcasting licensees “not provide any content which may upset the sensibilities and sentiment of any race or religion in this country” nor “any content which contains cultural and moral values that are against the community aspirations of the nation.”

NONE Jamaluddin and Wong, however, claim they have scrutinised the recording of the broadcast and found no evidence that they violated the licence conditions.

On the day the alleged offences, the programme host had interviewed gay pastor Ou Yang Wen Feng on race relations and aired responses to the attempt by a hawker in Penang who tried to set himself on fire the day before.

Wong and Jamaluddin said there was nothing wrong with the content of their programme that day, and claim they were "brutally axed" for political reasons.

They also said they will be seeking legal advice on the next course of action.

'Judicial harassment'

NONE RSF, meanwhile, also criticised as “senseless” the charge laid against Irwan Abdul Raman, better known as 'Hassan Skodeng', for posting a satirical article on his blog about Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).

Irwan faces up to one year in prison and a fine of RM50,000 for his posting on March 25, which satirically claimed that TNB was planning to sue environmental conservation group WWF over its Earth Hour demonstration against global warming.

Irwan Abdul Rahman aka hassan skodeng 2 RSF called for charges against Irwan ( right ) to be dropped and said it deplored “the judicial harassment” against him.

RSF also defended the blogger’s right to humour.

“The authorities should not confuse satire with defamation”, it said.

Irwan was charged under Article 233 (1) (a) of the 1998 Communications and Multimedia law for “improper use of network facilities or network service by making, creating, soliciting and initiating transmission of any content that is obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with malicious intent.”