BRIBERY ALLEGATION: 'I WAS ARRESTED FOR DOING MY JOB' - JOURNALIST

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 (Bernama) -- A journalist from a news portal who was detained at the end of last month on suspicion of involvement in a corruption case had today published an article to clear the air, standing firm that he had never solicited a bribe.

In the article titled “Bribe allegation: This is my story” published by Malaysiakini, the journalist who remained firm that he was arrested for doing his job, outlined the timeline of what had transpired in the alleged case.

“For the record, I neither requested RM100,000 nor negotiated the amount to settle for RM20,000,” he wrote in the article.

Sharing his story, the journalist said he was investigating a 'Fly' syndicate operating at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), which was involved in falsifying immigration exit and entry stamps for foreign workers.

“Since writing the first article on this new syndicate on Feb 19, I never contacted these agents to ask for a bribe. It was these agents who repeatedly offered to bribe me,” he explained.

The newsman said his second report on Feb 22 exposed the involvement of Pakistani agents in the syndicate, ultimately leading to a meeting with them at a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur.

During the meeting, he said they offered him RM50,000 and were prepared to pay RM20,000 on the spot, but he firmly refused, making it clear that he was not for sale.

He said that after the meeting, he immediately went to the state immigration director’s office to discuss the case.

“He (immigration director) then asked me to engage with the agents again to help gather stronger evidence. I agreed to act as an 'undercover agent' for him,” he explained.

According to the journalist, one of the Pakistani agents contacted him again on Feb 27 to settle the matter, after which he arranged a meeting at the Concorde Hotel in Shah Alam on Feb 28 and informed the state immigration director about it.

“When we met, the agent asked me to delete the articles about him,” he said, adding that he refused and pretended to be interested in “working together” with him and tried to coax him to give something that could be used as evidence.

“Instead, he (the agent) handed me an envelope, which I believed contained money, as a bribe. Surprised, I took it either way as evidence to be handed to the state immigration director.

“Within seconds, more than a dozen MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) officers confronted me,” he said.

The journalist admitted that he did not inform his superiors about the arrangement and a few other arrangements in pursuit of exposing these syndicates because he was worried that they might stop him from proceeding because of the risks involved.

Meanwhile, Malaysiakini said it would investigate the truth of the matter and has set up an independent panel of experts to ensure a fair process, pledging to make the findings public.

“Pending the independent panel’s findings, Malaysiakini has suspended the journalist with full benefits,” said the news portal, noting that the newsman has been an outstanding journalist, producing numerous exclusives that have made headlines.

Malaysiakini said it remained steadfast in its commitment to journalistic integrity, transparency, and ethical reporting - principles that have guided the news portal since its founding. 

MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the journalist was released on Tuesday after his remand period ended.

The journalist was investigated for alleged involvement in corruption under Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009.

-- BERNAMA