Malaysia opens probe into Al Jazeera report on migrant arrests

Malaysian police on Monday opened an investigation into a documentary by news broadcaster Al Jazeera on the country's arrests of undocumented migrants, which authorities have accused of being an attempt to tarnish Malaysia's image. Last week, Malaysia's Federal Court allowed prosecutors to move ahead with contempt proceedings against news portal Malaysiakini over comments posted by its readers on the judiciary.

Malaysian police on Monday opened an investigation into a documentary by news broadcaster Al Jazeera on the country's arrests of undocumented migrants, which authorities have accused of being an attempt to tarnish Malaysia's image. "Locked up in Malaysia's Lockdown", produced by the Qatar-based station's 101 East news programme, focused on the plight of thousands of undocumented migrants detained during raids carried out in areas under tight coronavirus lockdowns.

The documentary, which aired last week, sparked an immediate backlash online while several officials decried the report as being inaccurate, misleading and unfair. Defence minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob this week called on Al Jazeera to apologise to Malaysians, and said allegations of racism and discrimination against undocumented migrants were untrue.

Authorities had previously defended the arrests as necessary to uphold the law and stem the spread of the pandemic. Police opened a probe into the Al Jazeera documentary following a complaint by Malaysia's immigration department, deputy director of the police criminal investigations department Mior Faridalathrash Wahid told Reuters in a text message.

Spokespeople for Al Jazeera did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The investigation is the latest in a recent series of clampdowns against reporters and activists that rights groups have said were aimed at stifling dissent of the government.

In May, a journalist from the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post was questioned by police over her reporting on the migrant arrests. Last week, Malaysia's Federal Court allowed prosecutors to move ahead with contempt proceedings against news portal Malaysiakini over comments posted by its readers on the judiciary. Malaysiakini has denied wrongdoing, saying it could not be held responsible for readers' comments.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)