YOURSAY | ‘Never has so much shame been heaped upon the country by one man.’

ABC defends arrested reporters who quizzed PM, says story out soon

Vijay47: There seems to be a concerted effort to make Najib Abdul Razak and his government objects of international amusement, if not loathing.

First, we had that defence attaché in New Zealand sharing with the world his take on the attitude and inclinations of western women , followed by the one and only Sirul Azhar Umar presenting from Australia his version of jailhouse rock.

After that, closer to home, we had Najib's darling son exhibiting his musical prowess which unfortunately did not set the multitudes dancing in the streets.

And now, right in the bosom of democracy, the police, taking a break from Twitter, are lecturing the world on journalism ethics . Utusan Malaysia , where are you when we need you?

Abasir: I can actually picture what would have happened with the head honcho.

There he was safely surrounded by the fawning local media selected for their docility and programmed to ask questions no more probing than “what Datuk Seri had for tea” when he suddenly runs into the likes of Linton Besser who had the temerity to shout out RM2.6 billion-1MDB vulgarly conjoined in the same question.

One can imagine the utter horror of the moment , the shudder that would have run through the bones of his habitually bent-over aides and hangers-on, and the sheer terror that would have momentarily paralysed The Chosen One.

It would have taken a minute at least before Sirul's ex-colleagues would have reacted, given that Strine as spoken by Besser is not exactly common in Kuching.

The two-hour delay in the arrest was undoubtedly caused by frantic tweets and calls to and from police chief Khalid Abu Bakar, attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali, et al.

But all's well that ends well - a call from Canberra referencing Villawood (where Sirul is being detained) obviously worked like magic.

Jaycee: On behalf of the Malaysians who would want to know the truth on the infamous ‘donation’, thank you ABC journalists Linton Besser and Louie Eroglu for your bravery and commitment.

Please do not be discouraged by the intimidations of our ruling party. You have done nothing wrong. We look forward to the full Four Corners report in a few weeks’ time.

Legit: The Australian government must take note of this incident and stop behaving like a child bribed with chocolate cookies.

It seems while the Australian media is interested in the scandals involving Najib, Canberra looks like being seemingly complicit with Najib and his regime on all the alleged crimes committed by both.

Otherwise, it would have got the truth out from Sirul by now and would have taken the necessary action over the deportation of Australian Al-Jazeera journalist Mary Ann Jolley by the Malaysian authorities some months back.

It looks like the ‘orang puteh’ from Down Under are also ‘highly corruptible’ after all.

GE14Now!: There is no need to engage in any attempts to topple Najib's credibility as he has none. Indeed, he is in negative territory.

Never in the history of this nation has so much shame been heaped upon the country by one man. What amazes me is that there are still people who refuse to see the damage that this man is doing to the country.

LKY: Charge journalists with aggressive questioning? How to charge them when they are just questioning the PM as all journalists do?

I saw the video . They clearly did not cross the security lines. They are in fact behind the first row of bystanders.

Police: Australian journalists not charged, but to be deported

Anonymous 2362021442199789: This is another black eye for our international image and all because of the need to protect one very tainted individual. The rest of us are all tainted by association.

Is it any wonder that most of us can hardly wait to celebrate his inevitable departure?

Victor Johan: If they deport two hard-questioning foreign reporters, many more will surface, including local reporters.

So, it's best now for Najib to stay indoors and have his representative cahoots to make public appearances and have his ministers answer questions directed to him as prime minister and finance minister in Parliament as well.

Curdle: Of course, the Australian journalists will not be charged. That would require some evidence of wrongdoing, which will come under the international spotlight.

But for Malaysians, such evidence is not required - it is enough for the inspector-general of police (IGP) or the home minister to assert that a transgression has occurred.

Speaking Sense: No one in authority in this country seems to know what they are doing, so each new day, each different decision.

You can't run a country by trial and error. Reporters are there to report; to report they have to be on the scene, they have to talk to people, they have to ask questions.

You don't arrest them, or deport them, for being there to do their job. Unless, of course, if you are afraid of being questioned because you have something to hide.

JD Lovrenciear: Please, why do we witness so many acts that keep disgracing our global reputation? Are these not treason against the Agong and good name of our nation?

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