Accused of sedition on air, BFM says deejays spoke of Suzuki Cup and Gershwin

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 ― Under scrutiny for allegedly seditious broadcasts over use of the word “Allah”, Malay and Islamic rights and practices last week, local radio station BFM 89.9 said today that none of its presenters had raised any of those topics while on air.

Instead, the radio station said only two issues were discussed on air during the December 12 date and they revolved around the AFF Suzuki Cup football matches and famed American lyricist Ira Gershwin in its “Hari Ini dalan Sejarah Dunia” (Today in World History) programme.

“[We] wish to state that our records indicate Sharaad Kuttan was on air during the said hours discussing the Suzuki Cup and other unrelated matters, and not as alleged,” BFM 89.9 said in a statement.

“It was also alleged that during 1800 and 1900 hours of the same day, presenters Umapagan Ampikaipakan, Caroline Oh, Patrick Teoh and Ezra Zaid were discussing issues related to animal sacrifice, Malay rights, Islamic matters, including the topic of wearing a headscarf/hijab but we wish to clarify that based on our records, during that date and time, we were broadcasting a programme titled, “Hari Ini dalam Sejarah Dunia” featuring American lyricist Ira Gershwin. The relevant presenters involved in this programme were Umapagan Ampikaipakan and Richard Bradbury only,” it added.

BFM 89.9 had issued a statement today following news reports of a complaint filed yesterday by nine Malay and Islamic rights activist groups asking the police to investigate the radio station and five of its deejays for sedition.

Among the complainants were the Malaysian Islamic Consumers Association (PPIM), Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia and Pekida Malaysia.

In their police report, they named radio presenters Sharaad Kuttan, Caroline Oh, Ezra Zaid, Umapagan Ampikaipakan and Patrick Teoh as the five deejays who allegedly touched on seditious issues in their morning and evening shows on December 12 this year.

The radio station said the allegations raised by the Malay and Islamic groups were “inaccurate and baseless”.

It said only three radio presenters were on air on December 12, the date in which the five deejays were alleged to have committed the offensive acts, according to the police complaint filed.

BFM 89.9 also clarified that the complaints raised by the groups were not based on the controversial interview with Iranian Islamic religious scholar Reza Aslan that

it had broadcast last year, in which the “Allah” issue had cropped up.

“Regardless, BFM 89.9 will cooperate with the relevant authorities as they carry out their investigations,” the radio station said.

The police have said they will investigate the radio station following the complaint filed by the nine non-governmental organisations.

On December 9, the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission issued a letter to BFM 89.9 alleging that the station had breached certain conditions under its Content Application Service Provider license when it broadcast an interview with Iranian-American scholar Reza Aslan on October 21 last year.

The regulator offered the station the option of paying a RM10,000 compound for the alleged offence in lieu of further proceedings.