A freelance videographer was attacked by a customs officer outside the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court yesterday.
 
Lutin Ahmad, 39, claimed he was attacked by a man who was escorting five senior customs officers charged with accepting bribes to allow smuggling and the misuse of facilities at the Port Klang Free Trade Zone.
 
The man was trying to block the media from recording footage of the accused, when he suddenly lashed out at Lutin (left) , the Malaysian Gazette reported.
 
"Suddenly the irritated man aggressively assaulted me by touching and twisting my neck that I lost my balance. 
 
"I fell before the man became even more aggressive and tried to stomp on me," he was quoted as saying.
 
Lutin, a stringer for RTM, claimed the man tried to attack him a second time when he approached the five officers with his camera, but was stopped by other media at the scene.
 
"I was just doing my job," Lutin said.
 
This is the second reported event of media personnel attacked while covering a court case this year. 
 
Last July, two brothers pleaded guilty to attacking an Utusan Malaysia photographer at the Kota Bharu courthouse.
 
The photographer reportedly sustained injuries to his head and arms and damage to his equipment after repeatedly hit by the brothers, believed to be relatives of a woman sentenced to death for drug trafficking. 
 
Earlier this month, a New Straits Times photographer sustained a bloody nose and damaged equipment when he was assaulted by next-of-kin of a family of three who died on Flight MH17, at a funeral service.
 
The family said the photographers did not heed their requests for privacy but the Malaysian Press Photographers Association in its police report denied this.