Finas: Al Jazeera did not have proper licence to produce documentary
Preliminary investigations by the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) has found that international news agency Al Jazeera did not have the necessary licence to film a documentary which has attracted heavy criticism.
Finas said this in a statement today in regard to the documentary titled "Locked Up in Malaysia's Lockdown."
Preliminary investigations by the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) has found that international news agency Al Jazeera did not have the necessary licence to film a documentary which has attracted heavy criticism.
Finas said this in a statement today in regard to the documentary titled "Locked Up in Malaysia's Lockdown."
"Based on the initial investigations, Finas found out that the company had no Film Production Licence and they made no application for a certificate of filming to shoot the documentary," it said.
The statement came a day after Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said they would check if the documentary was licensed by Finas before being produced.
Earlier this month, Al-Jazeera had released the 25-minute documentary that denounced the treatment of undocumented migrants when Malaysia took steps to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
Police had also confirmed that they would call a few relevant authorities to verify several matters in terms of approval and permission given in the production of the documentary.
Finas said that it would cooperate fully with the police to probe Al Jazeera under Section 22(1) of the Perbadanan Kemajuan Filem Nasional Malaysia Act 1981.
According to the section, no persons are allowed to produce, distribute and exhibit films without a licence from Finas.
The penalty for violating this law is a maximum two-year jail sentence, fine of not more than RM50,000 or both.
Additionally, Section 22(2) stated that Finas may refuse to issue a licence without providing any reason. This refusal cannot be challenged in court.
