The Malaysian Bar today expressed concern over media being barred from covering the trial of a policeman accused of falsifying documents in a drug case.

In a statement today, its president Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor (photo, above) said the Bar recognised that discretion exists in the interest of justice and protection of sensitive information.

He, however, called for a more judicious exercise in this discretion as serving the public interest should be paramount.

Fareed was responding to a news report where the Magistrate's Court in Shah Alam removed any persons not involved in the case, including the media, when a police officer was charged in court on Jan 29.

This was after the deputy public prosecutor Nur Shazwanie made the request as the case dealt with sensitive matters.

It was understood that the officer was then charged under Section 465 of the Penal Code for forgery, which carries a jail term of up to two years, or a fine, or both.

Fareed said Section 7 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides the trying of any offences shall be deemed an open and public court to which the public generally may have access.

"The circumstances in which this rule is departed from are provided for in various legislation, and rely on the exercise of the discretion of the court to decide on whether or not the facts of the case justify the conduct of proceedings 'in camera'.

"The Malaysian Bar recognises that this discretion exists in the interest of justice, public safety, and national security, or for the protection of vulnerable classes of persons, or sensitive information.

"Exceptions that include those mentioned above should not be abused on feeble grounds, such as the sensitivity of a particular charge, as advanced by the DPP in this case," he said.

Fareed added that the DPP, in executing the powers of the public prosecutor, plays a crucial role in balancing the freedom of the press, protecting the natural right of the public to know, as well as upholding the law.

"The rule of law demands equality in the dispensation of justice, and one should abide by this process of law, regardless of his/her position or stature in life. Serving the public interest should always be paramount.

"We call for a more judicious exercise of this discretion, and a further bolstering of the law and its application in this area," he said.