KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has questioned Chief Registrar of the Federal Court of Malaysia, after the latter claimed the court was unaware of the media’s presence which led them to being barred from covering a proceeding in court yesterday.
Its president Farah Marshita Abdul Patah insisted that the court was not packed, after the registrar claimed that crowd control to curb Covid-19 was the reason behind the reporters being denied covering Datuk Nurulhidayah Ahmad Zahid and her spouse’s case.
“When it happened, the open court was not filled with the public and media practitioners. In fact, at the start of the proceeding, five members of the press was allowed in.
“They were ordered to leave during the remand proceedings, but once that was done and the court began session, they were not permitted in again,” she said in a statement.
In addition, Farah said only the acquaintances of the persons being charged were allowed into the court when the charges were being read out, indicating that the court was aware of the identity of the rest who attended.
“This incident clearly indicates the court is aware of the presence of media personnel, and indeed everyone present wore tags as a matter of self-identification.
“To that, it should be reminded that such restrictions on media freedom should not occur in an open court,” she said.
Yesterday, both Nurulhidayah, daughter of Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and Saiful were fined RM800 each by the Magistrate’s Court in Putrajaya for breaking the movement control order (MCO), after pleading guilty.
However, journalists present at the court complex were barred from covering the proceedings for unspecified reasons.
Besides NUJ, the move was also criticised by media group Gerakan Media Merdeka.
