THERE should not be any attempt to muzzle the press, said G25 founding member Mohd Sheriff Kassim, following an Umno delegate’s calls for an investigation into The Malaysian Insight for allegedly insulting Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Sheriff said the media should be allowed to report freely, and the time had come for the government to realise that freedom of information and open debates were key to a healthy democracy and economy.

“If you prevent the media from expressing views, the public will suffer because they won’t have access to information. They will be kept in the dark on issues.

“That is what often leads to abuse of power, corruption and injustice,” he told reporters after the launch of G25’s Invigorating Economic Confidence in Malaysia report in Kuala Lumpur today.

He was asked to comment on the calls made by Penang Umno delegate Mohd Nashrol Hisham Abdullah at the party’s general assembly today.

Nashrol, however, he did not specify which articles by The Malaysian Insight were deemed insulting to the prime minister or Umno leadership.

Yesterday, Johor delegate Haliza Abdullah made a similar statement in her speech.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) was investigating if The Malaysian Insight had breached any laws in its reports that allegedly insulted Najib.

But, he did not specify the laws under which the website would be investigated.

He confirmed that MCMC had received a report, adding that if the website had breached any laws, the report would be sent to the relevant authorities for further action.

Nasrol, in his speech, also said The Malaysian Insight was owned by Faridah Begum.

Faridah is the sister of The Malaysian Insight editor/managing director Jahabar Sadiq and the wife of Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali. – December 9, 2017.