CIJ wants police to stop using “secrecy” to curtail freedom of expression and right to information

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) disagrees with Bukit Aman’s argument that taking videos or photographs of police investigations could affect the confidentiality of police investigations, and so the public should not record or circulate recordings of police investigations. We call for the State and its apparatus to abide by higher accountability and transparency standards and stop using “secrecy” to curtail freedom of expression and right to information (RTI).

We acknowledge the importance of protecting private and sensitive police information and investigations from being arbitrarily revealed to the public, such as when it pertains to issues around national security, defence and public order. But surely this is not the case for the investigation into Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (UMANY), over the group’s recent statement arguing that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong should not interfere in national affairs.

The issue at hand revolves around an academic statement that a group of university students posted online and which does not touch on issues such as national security or defence. Why then have the police deemed such an investigation to be so sensitive that it warrants zero transparency and public accountability?

Our position is that exceptions to the right to access and circulate information should be narrowly defined and limited in law, be proportionate and subject to strict “harm” and “public interest” tests, in order to justify why said information should be withheld. It follows that public interest shall always prevail and the onus is on the State to determine if the information, if revealed or made viral, would contribute to serious harm, rather than arbitrarily withholding information or immediately sanctioning those who reveal said information – as we witnessed happen to activist Wong Yan Ke, who was arrested for recording a police officer several days ago.

We, therefore, call on the police to show how and why recording a police search of a university student activist’s house is tantamount to serious harm, and if they fail to do so, they must drop the investigation immediately.

We must eliminate the deep-rooted culture of secrecy within the State and its apparatus. To that end, we call on the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government to immediately enact a federal-level RTI legislation to enable a working and healthy democracy through the guaranteeing of transparency, strengthening of the rule of law, combating corruption and promotion of good governance. 

This, of course, shall be contingent on the repeal of several archaic and repressive laws, such as Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, Sedition Act 1948 and the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972, as these laws are arbitrarily applied, and creates barriers and limits our freedom of expression and access to information. 

11 November 2020

Ms. Wathshlah G. Naidu
CIJ Executive Director

For media inquiries, contact Mr. Vinodh Pillai at media_comms@cijmalaysia.net