IGP warns media about giving publicity to Daesh militants

KUALA LUMPUR: Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar (pix) today warned of stern action against media practitioners who allow the Daesh militant group to convey their message to the public.
He said media which went for scoops or sensational stories by interviewing Malaysian Daesh militants in Syria, for example, could be construed as undermining national security.
The media had a responsibility towards national security and this must be upheld by media practitioners, he told reporters at the Aidilfitri open house of the Inspector-General of Police at the Police Training Centre in Jalan Semarak here.
"I am not bothered if you want to interview Daesh militants but the stories need not be published. Any local media which gives publicity to Daesh will have to face stern action," he said.
Khalid was commenting on the recent publication by a Chinese newspaper of an interview with Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi@Abu Hamzah, a Malaysian Daesh militant in Syria.
He warned all media practitioners against giving such publicity, saying that national security was of utmost priority.
Khalid also said that the police were on the hunt for two more suspects in the grenade blast at an entertainment outlet in Puchong recently.
"I appeal to the people who have information on the incident to assist the police," he said.
Eight people were injured, one of them severely, in the grenade explosion at the outlet at IOI Boulevard at 2.15am on June 28 when the customers were watching a Euro soccer competition match on television. — Bernama