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Category: International Law / Government and Politics / Courts and Trials / Media

Four Corners crew leaves Malaysia after being detained

Tuesday, 15 Mar 2016 11:00:59

Reporter Linton Besser and cameraman Louie Eroglu have left Malaysia. (Twitter: Adam Harvey)

The Four Corners team who were detained in Malaysia after trying to question Prime Minister Najib Razak have left the country.

Key points:

  • Four Corners team has arrived in Singapore
  • They were escorted out of Malaysia after a case against them was dropped
  • They initially faced charge of obstructing a public servant in the discharge of their duties

Reporter Linton Besser and cameraman Louie Eroglu arrived in Singapore this afternoon on a Malaysia Airlines flight.

In a statement ABC News director Gaven Morris said he was "very glad and relieved" at the outcome, saying the corporation stood by its journalists.

"They did nothing wrong in Kuching. They were doing journalism. This incident has demonstrated again why it is vital to defend media freedom, including the right to question authority," he said.

"Linton and Louie are continuing their work, investigating the story they are working on for Four Corners. We look forward to seeing their full report in coming weeks."

The pair were told by authorities to leave Malaysia this morning and were escorted through Kuching's international airport.

After a hold-up with customs paperwork, they were escorted to the aircraft for departure.

They were due to be charged over Besser's questioning of Mr Najib, but prosecutors changed their minds early on Tuesday morning.

Police claimed the pair crossed a police line and ignored their instructions while trying to question Mr Najib.

The ABC journalists deny the claim.

Pair were under threat of two years imprisonment

On Monday night, Besser and Eroglu were told they would likely be charged with obstructing a public servant in the discharge of their duties.

If they were found guilty of the charge they could have faced two years in prison.

But three hours after the pair were given the order to appear in court on Tuesday morning, their lawyer was called by police and told no charges would be filed and they may be able to leave the country after some paperwork.

External Link: Louie tweet

The pair travelled to Kuching police station this morning to finalise documents to have their bail cancelled.

On Saturday night, Besser questioned Mr Najib as he walked into a mosque, asking him why hundreds of millions of dollars had been deposited into his bank account.

The pair were surrounded by the Prime Minister's security team and then allowed to leave, before later being arrested and questioned for six hours in a police station.

Their passports were taken and later returned, but they were told not to leave the country while their case was investigated.

The lawyer for the ABC pair, Albert Tang, said he received a call from Ng Ahlek, the superintendent of police for Malaysia's Padawan District, telling him to bring his clients to court at 8:30am (local time) so they could be charged.

"When asked who made the decision to institute the charge against my clients, he said it was the Attorney-General who made the decision," Mr Tang said on Monday.

He said that normally those decisions were made by a local deputy public prosecutor.

It was not clear why authorities had not followed through with the case after Mr Tang was contacted and told the court appearance was not warranted.

AustraliaPlus


 

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