Anwar Ibrahim |
- Afidavit Tolak Zainul Rijal Selaku Pendakwa Raya Dalam Kes Qazaf Di Mahkamah Syariah
- Sidang Media Pakatan Rakyat
- Wan Azizah: J/Kuasa p’raya untuk kaburi mata rakyat
- Putrajaya’s Deafening Silence On FBC Fiasco
- ‘Imam BERSIH’: Isu Khutbah Sengaja Ditimbulkan
- Pakatan: BN will ‘Run Over Us’ in Polls Panel
- Tolak Zainul Rijal Kerana Langgar Etika Peguam Syarie
- Special Investigation: TV Company Takes Millions From Malaysian Government To Make Documentaries For BBC… About Malaysia
| Afidavit Tolak Zainul Rijal Selaku Pendakwa Raya Dalam Kes Qazaf Di Mahkamah Syariah Posted: 18 Aug 2011 02:23 AM PDT BORANG MS 3 AKTA TATACARA MAL MAHKAMAH SYARIAH PERMOHONAN DALAM MAHKAMAH RAYUAN SYARIAH DI MALAYSIA Dalam Perkara di bawah Rayuan No. 14000-099-0017-2010 di Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah di Malaysia, Wilayah Persekutuan di Kuala Lumpur (Rayuan ke atas Perintah Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah bertarikh 14.4.2010); Dan Dalam Perkara di bawah Rayuan No. 14000-099-0020-2010 di Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah di Malaysia, Wilayah Persekutuan di Kuala Lumpur (Permohonan Pengenepian Notis Rayuan); Dan Dalam Perkara Penghakiman/Perintah bertarikh 14.4.2010 di dalam Permohonan No. 14100-099-012-2010 di Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah Wilayah Persekutuan di Kuala Lumpur; Dan Dalam Perkara Arahan Amalan No. 4 Tahun 2002 ; Dan Dalam Perkara Kaedah 3, Kaedah 7 dan Kaedah 8 Etika Peguam Syarie 2000 di bawah Akta Pentadbiran Undang-Undang Islam (Wilayah-Wilayah Persekutuan) 1993 ANTARA DATO' SERI ANWAR BIN IBRAHIM …PEMOHON ZAINUL RIJAL BIN ABU BAKAR …RESPONDEN AMBIL PERHATIAN BAHAWA Pemohon yang dinamakan di atas bercadang memohon kepada Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur pada hari pada haribulan 2011, jam pagi/petang untuk mendapatkan perintah bahawa:- 1. Pemohon diberi kebenaran memfailkan Permohonan ini di Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah Wilayah Persekutuan melalui Notis Permohonan; 2. Responden ditegah dan tidak dibenarkan daripada mewakili dan menjadi Peguam Syarie di dalam kes Rayuan No. 14000-099-0017-2010 dan kes Rayuan No. 14000-099-0020-2010 di Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah di Malaysia, Wilayah Persekutuan; 3. Kos ditanggung oleh Responden; 4. Lain-lain relif yang difikirkan patut dan sesuai oleh Mahkamah Yang Mulia ini; Alasan permohonan ini sebagaimana berikut:- i) Responden telah berkelakuan tidak professional; ii) Responden tidak bersifat jujur dan tidak berniat baik untuk menegakkan keadilan; iii) Responden tidak menyenggara kebebasan profesionalnya dan bertindak bertentangan dengan kepentingan pentadbiran keadilan yang terbaik; dan iv) Wujud percanggahan atau konflik kepentingan pada Responden Permohonan ini disokong dengan Afidavit Pemohon yang dilampirkan. Bertarikh haribulan Ogos 2011 ………………………………………. PERMOHONAN ini telah difailkan oleh Tetuan Kamar Ainiah, Raziff & Zashidi beralamat di E3A-3A, Jalan Selaman 1/2, Dataran Palma, Off Jalan Ampang, 68000 Ampang Selangor Darul Ehsan. |
| Posted: 18 Aug 2011 12:39 AM PDT Dimaklumkan bahawa satu sidang media Pakatan Rakyat akan diadakan seperti berikut: Tarikh : 19 Ogos 2011 (Jumaat) Antara yang akan menghadiri sidang akhbar ini adalah YB Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, YB Liew Chin Tong dan YB Nurul Izzah Anwar. |
| Wan Azizah: J/Kuasa p’raya untuk kaburi mata rakyat Posted: 18 Aug 2011 12:00 AM PDT
KUALA LUMPUR: Presiden KEADILAN, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail berkata penubuhan Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Parlimen yang diumumkan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak sekadar untuk mengaburi mata rakyat. Ini kerana penubuhan jawatankuasa tersebut untuk menambah baik proses pilihan raya, tidak dirunding bersama Ahli Parlimen Pakatan Rakyat dan bersifat berat sebelah. "Kalau dikatakan ada jawatankuasa khas yang ditubuh, itu hanyalah untuk mengaburi mata kita sebab ini tidak dibincangkan dengan pihak pembangkang di parlimen. Sistem ini juga berat sebelah," katanya. Beliau berkata demikian ketika ditemui selepas mengadakan lawatan ke Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya (PPUM), bersama Naib Presiden KEADILAN, Nurul Izzah Anwar bagi menyampaikan sumbangan kepada kira-kira 300 pesakit semalam. Katanya, penubuhan jawatankuasa itu juga membuktikan kerajaan pimpinan perdana menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak mengakui wujud kepincangan pilihan raya.
"Sebab itu perlunya reformasi dalam pembersihan undi, macam-macam yang telah dilakukan termasuk protes dan perbincangan oleh Badan Bukan Kerajaan, (NGO). Protes ini (Bersih) bukan kali pertama dibuat, tapi masih lagi tidak ada perubahan," "Apa yang kita tengok makin teruk dan kita perlu dedahkan lebih supaya kerajaan ambil langkah-langkah yang kukuh dan mantap. Kenalah mengambil kira pandangan pembangkang, sekurang-kurangnya Perdana Menteri mengakui memang ada kepincangan dalam sistem pilihanraya," katanya lagi. Sementara itu, Wan Azizah menyifatkan kongkongan kebebasan media yang dilakukan Umno-BN, sebagai perkara yang memalukan negara. Baru-baru ini, Datuk Seri Najib Razak membuat kenyataan mengenai usaha mengurangkan penapisan media namun ia berlaku sebaliknya apabila jurugambar Suara Keadilan, Yuisriah Yusof dipanggil Suruhanjaya Komunikasi Multimedia (SKMM). Baru-baru ini, SKMM juga memanggil ibu bapa blogger, Nur Hanief Abdul Jalil yang disiasat pada Mac lalu kerana mengkritik Umno-BN melalui laman Youtube. "Malaysia jatuh pada tangga bawah kerana kongkongan dalam kebebasan media ini amatlah memalukan negara. Menurutnya, Selangor mencatat sejarah apabila menjadi negeri pertama dalam Malaysia meluluskan Enakmen Kebebasan Maklumat (FOI) 2010 yang memberikan hak kepada rakyat untuk mengakses maklumat berkaitan pentadbiran negeri. "Kita di selangor mengadakan kebebasan media . Itu yang kita nak supaya kita dapat sesuatu yang akan sampaikan kepada rakyat. Jadi rakyat boleh mengetahui pemimpin mereka dan boleh membuat pilihan," kata beliau. |
| Putrajaya’s Deafening Silence On FBC Fiasco Posted: 17 Aug 2011 11:45 PM PDT Last week, I called on the Federal and the Sarawak state Governments to come clean on their hiring of the FBC Media firm to engage in an illegal public relations campaign. Putrajaya and Kuching were found to have paid FBC hundreds of millions of ringgit for strategic communications services and the production of friendly content for their governments, something clearly in contravention of fundamental media laws and ethics. It must also be pointed out that FBC was also involved in the engaging of APCO Worldwide to lobby the US government on behalf of Barisan Nasional to promote Malaysia's pro-business and pro-reform credentials as well as the reforms and anti-terrorism policies introduced. What is in dispute here is not the practice of hiring media advisory or public affairs firms, but rather these firms use of paid content to unwarrantedly bolster the image of certain governments at the expense of objective reporting. While the Malaysian Insider has reported that Putrajaya has terminated its contract with FBC following the expose by Sarawak Report, there has so far been no response from either the Federal and Sarawak Governments on the FBC fiasco. Neither Putrajaya nor Kuching has denied or admitted to the allegations. Considering the international media attention that this issue has raised, their silence is truly deafening. On the other hand, the media establishments involved, such as the BBC and CNBC have subsequently acted in a way that suggests the accusations against the FBC may be credible. BBC has suspended all programming commissioned from the company and is investigating how it came to broadcast supposedly impartial content that was in fact being produced by a company on the payroll of Putrajaya. CNBC has also indefinitely withdrawn the FBC-produced World Business program. It will be remembered that this show featured Malaysian government leaders on a few occasions. Finally, Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, is launching its own investigation into claims of bias at FBC. The FBC fiasco has now attracted attention from credible newspapers across the world and is putting another dent in Malaysia's tattered image globally. Surely Putrajaya and Kuching must now disclose their role in and extent of this illegal public relations campaign. This scandal ironically comes in the wake of the censoring of the Economist magazine report on the Bersih 2.0 debacle. As a result, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was forced to concede the need to review national censorship policies. We would now like the Prime Minister to come clean on the FBC fiasco to explain how hundreds of millions of ringgit of taxpayers' money were being funnelled not towards the national image, but for the interests of his party. NIK NAZMI NIK AHMAD |
| ‘Imam BERSIH’: Isu Khutbah Sengaja Ditimbulkan Posted: 17 Aug 2011 11:08 PM PDT Imam sebuah masjid di Gelang Patah yang digantung kerja selepas ditahan dalam perhimpunan BERSIH 2.0 mempertikaikan alasan yang diberikan Majlis Agama Islam Jojor (MAIJ) berhubung tindakan itu. Hassan Md Said, 40, mengesyaki alasan berkenaan bacaan khutbahnya sengaja ditimbulkan untuk menghalalkan tindakan menggantungnya. “Mereka boleh kata (penggantungan) berkenaan khutbah, sedangkan semua orang kampung kata penggantungan saya disebabkan BERSIH. “Lepas ini saya tak hairanlah kalau alasan lain keluar sama. (Contihnya) kata saya tidak datang mesyuaratlah,” katanya sinis. Penasihat MAIJ Datuk Noh Gadut dilaporkan berkata, penggantungan seorang iman baru-baru ini dibuat atas kesalahan tidak membaca teks khutbah yang disediakan majlis itu. Tanpa menyebut nama Hassan, Noh berkata tindakan diambil terhadap imam tersebut “untuk mengundurkan diri dan ditarik balik pentauliahannya”, lapor Sinar Harian hari ini. Bekas mufti Johor itu juga dilaporkan berkata, tindakan terpaksa diambil kerana MAIJ telah beberapa kali menasihati dan memberikan banyak peluang tetapi kesalahan itu masih berulang. ‘Saya bukan Mat Sabu’ Ketika dihubungi Malaysiakini hari ini, Hassan – imam utama Masjid Ladang – menafikan tidak membaca khutbah yang disediakan sebaliknya hanya “menyesuaikan” dengan masalah isu setempat di kampungnya. “Khutbah ini kadang-kadang tidak semasa dan tidak sesuai dengan tempat. Kampung saya ini kampung nelayan. Masalah orang sini masalah akidah. Di sini muktazilah, Syiah, Wahabi semua ada. Khutbah saya kenalah menyentuh perkara ini,” katanya. Menurutnya lagi, beliau sudah lebih sepuluh tahun mengambil tindakan itu tetapi tiada sebarang teguran dibuat oleh pihak majlis atau pegawainya di peringkat daerah yang dilantik. “Kenapa sekarang baru isu khutbah ini muncul? Kenapa tidak dua tahun lalu. Betullah saya kata, majlis agama ini tidak profesionallah. Saya sekarang ini kalau dipecat pun saya redalah,” katanya. Ditanya sama ada beliau mengkritik kerajaan dalam khutbahnya, Hassan menafikannya dengan alasan “saya bukan (timbalan presiden PAS) Mat Sabu”. “Saya juga bukan hendak main politik atau hendak jatuhkan kerajaan. Cuma saya ini bukan macam imam-imam lain yang ikut saja, (mereka) bila orang datang hendak kena tabik,” katanya. Hassan – bapa kepada dua anak – itu digantung kerja tiga bulan sehingga 2 November depan atas alasan “melanggar beberapa arahan” majlis agama negeri, yang dikeluarkan melalui Pejabat Kadi Johor Bahru. Hassan percaya tindakan itu susulan beliau antara hampir 1,700 orang yang ditangkap polis pada 9 Julai lalu. Beliau menafikan menyertai itu sebaliknya hanya datang menziarahi saudara dan melawat ibu negara. Pengidap kencing manis serius itu percaya elaun bulanan RM750 terhadapnya juga akan dibekukan, sekali gus menyebabkan pesakit kencing manis serius itu hilang mata pencarian. |
| Pakatan: BN will ‘Run Over Us’ in Polls Panel Posted: 17 Aug 2011 10:57 PM PDT Pakatan Rakyat MPs today decried the composition of the parliamentary select committee on electoral reform, saying it would make Pakatan committee members lame ducks. “How is Pakatan supposed to vote in this committee? “With five BN MPs, a BN minister as chairperson and an independent MP, who we know will be pro-BN, Pakatan will be outnumbered seven to three,” said PKR-Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh. |
| Tolak Zainul Rijal Kerana Langgar Etika Peguam Syarie Posted: 17 Aug 2011 09:45 PM PDT Video Ihsan Malaysiakini Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hadir di Mahkamah Syariah Kuala untuk memfailkan permohonan menolak peguam Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar yang mewakili Jabatan Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan, dalam kes qazaf yang difailkannya. Zainul Rijal mewakili Pendakwa Raya Syariah, Ketua Pengarah Jawi dan juga Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Dato Jamil Khir Baharom dalam permohonan untuk meneruskan kes Qazaf Anwar. Ketua Umum KEADILAN itu sebelum ini mengambil tindakan undang-undang terhadap Jawi agar jabatan itu meneruskan pendakwaan Qazaf yang difailkan beliau terhadap Saiful Bukhari Azlan, pengadu dalam kes Fitnah II. Peguam yang mewakili Anwar, Kamar Ainiah Kamaruzaman berkata permohonan menolak Zainul Rijal itu dibuat kerana dia dipercayai melakukan tindakan berlawanan dengan etika seorang peguam syarie dalam kes Anwar terhadap Jawi. "Beberapa kenyataan dikeluarkan Zainul Rijal menjejaskan mahkamah syariah dan berlawanan dengan etika peguam syariah dalam etika mahkamah syariah," kata Kamar Ainiah. Antaranya beliau sebelum ini mengeluarkan kenyataan-kenyataan menjejaskan kes ini dan juga menerima wang zakat dari Jabatan Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (Jawi) sebagai yuran guamannya, kata Kamar Ainiah. "Dia juga pernah meminta peguam Anwar, Karpal Singh disiasat (dan dikenakan tindakan). Dia juga pernah membuat kenyataan kes liwat pertama perlu dibuka semula (walaupun Anwar telah dibebaskan)," kata Kamar Ainiah. Anwar sewaktu mengulas berkata Zainul Rijal sebagai seorang peguam syariah menghina mahkamah syariah apabila melambat-lambatkan perbicaraan kes itu dan mencampuri perjalanan kes Fitnah II di Mahkamah Sivil. "Kes ini kita majukan sebab sejak 2008, pendakwa, Menteri Agama Umno, halang pendakwaan dari berlaku. Sebagai seorang yang mengaku sebagai peguam Muslim, dia sibuk (mengganggu) kes mahkamah sivil. "Semua ulama meminta saya bawa kes ini ke Mahkamah Syariah. Peguam saya dah ulang alik ke Mahkamah Syariah kerana sebelum ini kes ini ditolak atas alasan teknikal sahaja. "Satu penghinaan terhadap mahkamah syariah tetapi orang yang sama mendesak kes mahkamah sivil dipercepatkan," kata Anwar. Beliau turut menegur penggunaan wang zakat oleh Jawi untuk membayar yuran guaman Zainul Rijal sedangkan pada masa sama, pengagihan wang zakat terhadap orang memerlukan masih terabai. "Saya kira orang miskin terpaksa ke gereja untuk terima wang. Di sini, wang zakat diguna biaya Menteri. "Ia disahkan sendiri Timbalan Menteri Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Mashitah Ibrahim di Parlimen," kata Anwar. |
| Posted: 17 Aug 2011 09:40 PM PDT From The Independent The BBC has launched an investigation into how it broadcast to millions of people around the world programmes made by a company that had received millions of pounds in payments from the government of Malaysia. It has suspended all programming from the London-based production company, FBC, which since 2009 has made at least four BBC documentaries dealing with Malaysia and controversial issues such as the country’s contentious palm oil industry and its treatment of rainforests and indigenous people. In a statement, the BBC said: “FBC has now admitted to the BBC that it has worked for the Malaysian government. That information was not disclosed to the BBC as we believe it should have been when the BBC contracted programming from FBC. Given this, the BBC has decided to transmit no more programming from FBC while it reviews its relationship with the company.” An investigation by The Independent has established that entries in the Malaysian government’s Supplementary Budget 2010 show that FBC Media (UK) was allocated 28.35m Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) – nearly £6m – for work on a “Global Strategic Communications Campaign” ordered by the Malaysian government in 2009. A similar sum (MYR29.34m) was designated to the company the previous year. Concerns over the arrangements have been raised in the Malaysian parliament. Documents filed with the United States government’s House of Representatives in 2008 show that FBC Media (UK) contracted the Washington-based American lobbying company APCO Worldwide, which it paid more than US$80,000 (£50,000) in 2008 for the purpose of “raising awareness of the importance of policies in Malaysia that are pro-business and pro-investment as well as [showing] the significance of reform and anti-terrorism efforts in that country”. The BBC’s guidelines on conflict of interest state: “Independent producers should not have inappropriate outside interests which could undermine the integrity and impartiality of the programmes and content they produce for the BBC.” Having obtained this information on the Malaysian payments, the BBC is conducting an investigation into whether any of the FBC material it broadcast was in breach of BBC guidelines on impartiality. At the same time, CNBC, a business channel owned by the giant American NBC network, has withdrawn “indefinitely” its weekly show World Business, which was made by FBC and featured Malaysia on many occasions. In a statement issued to The Independent, the broadcaster said: “In light of serious questions raised two weeks ago, CNBC withdrew the programme World Business indefinitely and immediately initiated an examination of FBC and its business practices. CNBC has made a formal inquiry to FBC for its explanation in relation to the allegations that have been made.” FBC denies any impropriety in its programmes for any broadcaster and said via its lawyers that “at no time have the television programmes made for the BBC ever been influenced or affected by our client’s commercial activities”. Its lawyers said that FBC ran both production and commercial divisions, which “are and always have been quite separate and distinct”. They added: “Our client, having reviewed its procedures, is now taking steps to ensure that even the merest appearance of bias or overlap is fully avoided.” Last night, media regulator Ofcom said: “Ofcom is currently assessing this matter in accordance with our published procedures. We will shortly decide whether to launch a full investigation of the content in question under the broadcasting code.” The BBC and palm oil With its lush vegetation and smiling workforce dressed in polo shirts, the footage from the Tuan Mee palm oil estate, to the north of Kuala Lumpur, gave no obvious reason for BBC viewers to think they were being shown anything more than an exotic travelogue and an intriguing business story. But the coverage of the workings of one of Malaysia’s most important industries, shown on BBC World News’s Third Eye series this summer under the title “The Power of Asia”, formed part of a much bigger picture. The programme was made for the BBC by a London-based company called FBC Media, which has been hired by Malaysia to conduct a Global Strategic Communications Campaign, and has paid American lobbyists to raise “awareness of the importance of policies in Malaysia that are pro-business and pro-investment”. In the Third Eye programme, one of several productions made on Malaysia for the BBC in the last three years, viewers were told of the key role of the Malaysian palm oil industry in meeting the growing demand for food in countries such as China and India. “Once an efficient production centre for rubber, Malaysia over the years has increasingly turned to oil palm,” said the voiceover. “The country is now one of the world’s biggest exporters, producing 40 per cent of global supply, and is reaping the economic benefits of higher demand from Asia.” Azman Abdul Majid, of the Tuan Mee estate, was happy to tell his positive story. “The market now is so high that plantation in palm oil is a very good business in terms of profit, in terms of our benefit,” he said. The BBC show also featured Kuala Lumpur Kepong, another Malaysian palm oil business, and other Malaysian business figures. The programme dealt with the growing food crisis in Asia and the economic instability and social unrest that may result. It highlighted failures in harvesting rice in China and contrasted that with the successful Malaysian palm oil industry. “There are now more than 200,000 smallholders depending on the sale of palm oil,” the programme stated. It noted that “stocks in Asia’s food companies from Mumbai to Kuala Lumpur are now hotly traded”, but stressed the need to expand to meet the vast food demand. Indian companies were anxious to invest in Malaysian palm oil plantations “but land prices are now too high”. Only a brief reference was made to the reasons why the palm oil industry is the subject of fierce debate. Environmental groups complain that its spread has caused devastating levels of deforestation which harm biodiversity, threaten the livelihoods of indigenous people and put at risk the survival of the orang-utan. The programme took the view that production needed to be stepped up fast: “Asia is now experiencing rising demand and rising prices for grains and oils but production is lagging, as is investment and increases in yield.” It concluded with a sense of urgency: “Asia is going to have to grow its way out of trouble – and the clock is ticking.” It was not the first time that BBC viewers had shown programming on Malaysia produced by FBC. In February 2011, BBC World News broadcast on its One Square Mile programme a piece from Sarawak in which presenter Rian Maelzer, who describes himself as the “South East Asia Correspondent” for FBC’s CNBC programme World Business, explored the lifestyle of the tribal Iban people and took a boat ride to visit a traditional longhouse. “Tourism not only brings in money, it also encourages youngsters to keep alive skills that might otherwise have died out,” he reported. “For the past 40 years, the Malaysian government has practised an affirmative-action policy aimed at raising the living standards of indigenous groups.” The attractive portrayal of Sarawak, and the fight to preserve traditional culture, is at odds with the area’s reputation among environmentalists, who have highlighted the battle of indigenous people in Sarawak to preserve the rainforest against logging and the development of palm oil plantations. Similar subjects were examined in FBC’s Develop or Die documentary for the BBC in March 2009. The programme opened with a cartoon that drew comparisons between colonialists who asked “Are the natives friendly?”, and modern-day environmentalists who ask “Are the natives eco-friendly?” It examined the benefits of the Malaysian palm oil industry and its value to the economy, quoting smallholders whose lives have been transformed for the better by palm oil production. While it quoted environmentalists, it reported that “the major players in the industry resent the sweeping nature of environmental campaigns”. The programme concluded by pointing out the pressure on nations such as Malaysia to develop. “Now that their economies are more likely to fuel global growth in the next few years, they are more than ever questioning why they should be punished by Western-imposed standards.” As part of its Develop or Die series, BBC World News also screened an FBC co-production, “World Debate: Islam and Democracy in 2009″, featuring Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak sitting alongside the host on the panel. FBC’s ‘blue-chip service’ FBC is a media company with offices in London, Mumbai and Rome. It told The Independent that the programmes it has made “have always been fair, balanced and impartial”. It also said that it was no longer working for Malaysia. When The Independent first questioned the company about its business at the end of last month, it denied that it had ever done work for Malaysia. Confronted with evidence of contractual arrangements listed in Malaysian public records, the company’s lawyers said they had made an “error”, having “failed to spot an amendment made by our client to a draft letter that we had prepared”. It stated: “It is no secret that FBC received funds and performed consultancy work and media-buying for the Malaysian government in the past.” Of its hiring of American lobbyists to promote Malaysia, it said: “The object of that work involved showing the economy of Malaysia to be attractive to investors and committed to battling terrorism.” After FBC was contacted by The Independent, most of its website was replaced with a single page, giving only the most basic of information. In its online promotional material for potential clients – now removed from the internet – FBC boasted: “We control blue-chip television editorial time-slots” and can “guarantee controlled messaging from A to Z on the world’s leading news channels”. Telling would-be customers that “FBC is not a traditional PR firm”, it stated that it “can guarantee that your message is endorsed by prestige third-party ambassadors”. FBC also talked of its “broadcast news feeds” and informed clients that “by facilitating independent editorial coverage, broadcast news feeds can raise awareness amongst a highly targeted audience”. In another statement on its former website, it said: “FBC specialises in the planning and execution of strategic communications and branding campaigns, helping raise awareness across the international media landscape”. It then promised “an elite audience via” and listed a series of prestigious media brands including BBC World (now BBC World News), CNN, CNBC Europe and a number of print publications including The Economist, the Financial Times, Business Week, the Wall Street Journal and the International Herald Tribune. FBC says that its company is split into two distinct divisions, one for television production and the other for branding. It says its references to “time-slots” were “to paid advertising commercial spots and paid advertorial programming that is clearly labelled as such”. The founder and chairman of the FBC Group, which is the 100 per cent owner of both FBC Branded Content and FBC Media (UK), is Alan Friedman, an award-winning journalist and former banking correspondent at the Financial Times. Friedman was credited as the “executive producer” of three of the FBC programmes featuring Malaysia made for the BBC. Before the BBC broadcasts, it is understood that FBC, which has made 20 programmes for the BBC, signed the BBC’s standard producer guidelines which guarantee to “not accept money or other services or benefits from any individual, company or organisation with a view to endorsing or promoting such services and/or products in the series or series publicity or which could lead to doubts about the subjectivity or impartiality of the series”. In a statement to The Independent, the BBC said: “All independent TV companies who produce programmes for BBC World News have to sign strict agreements to ensure programmes meet the BBC’s editorial guidelines, including avoiding any conflict of interest.” BBC World News attracts 78 million viewers a week, is available in more than 200 countries and reaches around 300 million households and more than 1.8 million hotel rooms. The channel’s content, which includes advertising, is also available on 57 cruise ships, 42 airlines, 35 mobile phone networks and a number of major online platforms including bbc.com/news. The American-owned business channel CNBC has also begun an examination of “FBC and its business practices” and “withdrawn indefinitely” the programme the company produces, World Business. In the past two years, FBC has made at least 10 programmes for CNBC’s World Business featuring Mr Razak. In other editions, the previous prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, appeared as well as senior figures from Iskandar Malaysia, Malaysia Airlines and palm oil company Sime Darby. In March this year, the channel showed Deforestation in Sarawak, which was syndicated to other broadcasters, including US state broadcaster PBS. The programme featured Sarawak leader Taib Mahmud talking positively about the condition of the state’s rainforests and highlighted the area’s attraction to tourists. Eckart Sager, the president of FBC, is a former producer with CNN who, since joining FBC, has personally conducted interviews with Mr Razak, and separately his wife Rosmah Mansor, for CNBC’s World Business. Friedman, who is an American and lives in Rome, has also personally interviewed Razak. FBC is also linked to another award-winning journalist, John Defterios, the host of CNN show Marketplace Middle East, since 2007. Defterios, the former group president of FBC Media, last month conducted an exclusive interview for CNN with Mr Razak during his official visit to London. During the interview, Defterios questioned the Prime Minister on recent mass street protests by democracy campaigners in Malaysia. “Some would say you had 1,600 arrests of some 20,000 protesters. Are you satisfied with the security response to that particular round of protests, yourself?” he asked. Razak responded: “It was quite mild, you know, because although they were taken in, they were released after eight hours and they were treated very well. There was no undue use of force.” CNN issued a statement to say it had “never had an editorial relationship with FBC” and that FBC Media had not been involved in setting up interviews. “FBC has released a public statement that John Defterios resigned from the company,” it said. “While we appreciate that John Defterios’s relationship with FBC during his tenure with CNN could present the appearance of an editorial conflict, we have been reviewing the situation and have found no indication that CNN’s editorial standards were – or are in any way – compromised by that prior relationship.” The movers and shakers at the TV company Alan Friedman, chairman and founder of FBC Group The award-winning journalist, who studied at Johns Hopkins University, New York University and the London School of Economics, describes himself as a “media entrepreneur”. He has worked for the Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune and the Wall Street Journal. In FBC material he is described as “one of Europe’s most respected economic and political commentators”. He is the author of books on the Italian industrialist Gianni Agnelli, and on America’s arming of Iraq. Friedman was the executive producer of many of FBC’s programmes for the BBC and has conducted some of FBC’s interviews, including with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak. Eckart Sager, president and head of production for FBC German-born and educated in the US, Sager is a former senior producer for CNN, based in London. He previously worked for CNN in New York, travelling the world profiling leading business figures. He is the executive producer of many of FBC’s documentaries and also “provides key strategic communications advice and support on behalf of FBC clients”. Sager has also personally interviewed Mr Razak for FBC. John Defterios, former group president of FBC Media from 2000-2011 Since 2007, he has been the presenter of CNN International’s Marketplace Middle East programme and is a journalist with 25 years’ experience. He is a CNN news anchor and former Reuters bureau chief. In July this year he conducted an exclusive interview with Mr Razak for CNN during the Malaysian Prime Minister’s visit to London, CNN said the interview did not involve FBC. Defterios resigned from FBC in March, the company has told CNN. The money trail * Malaysian budget records show that MYR28.35m (nearly £6m) was allocated to FBC Media (UK) for a “Global Strategic Communications Campaign” in 2009. A similar allocation was made in 2008. FBC Media (UK) is a subsidiary of FBC Group Ltd * Documents filed with the United States House of Representatives show that FBC Media (UK) hired the Washington lobbyists APCO Worldwide in 2008 for the purpose of “raising awareness of the importance of policies in Malaysia that are pro-business and pro-investment as well as the significance of reform and anti-terrorism efforts in that country” The palm oil industry’s history of misleading claims The Malaysian palm oil industry has a history of offending the authorities by making false claims on BBC World. Three years ago, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) criticised a campaign from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) for carrying “misleading” claims about its impact on the environment. The advertising from the MPOC, which was not made by FBC, appeared on BBC World in 2007 and showed a palm oil plantation interspersed with shots of a rainforest and wildlife. In a voiceover, it asserted that “its trees give life and help our planet to breathe, and give home to hundreds of species of flora and fauna. Malaysia palm oil: a gift from nature, a gift for life.” The MPOC also claimed that palm oil had been “sustainably produced” since 1917. A second advert showed a man running through a forest, cut with shots of a palm oil plantation and wildlife. The voiceover said of the palm oil industry: “Its trees give life and help our planet breathe. Its fruit provides vitamins for our bodies and energy for our daily lives.” But the ASA upheld a complaint from Friends of the Earth International and Friends of the Earth Europe that the advert was misleading on the grounds that much palm oil was produced in a way that was not socially or environmentally sustainable. The advert was made before the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil completed a verification system for sustainable palm oil. The ASA ruled that the advert “was likely to mislead viewers as to the environmental benefits of palm oil plantations compared with native rainforest”. It also said viewers were misled “because there was not a consensus that there was a net benefit to the environment from Malaysia’s palm oil plantations”. In July this year, another campaign from the MPOC was banned by the advertising watchdog in Belgium for once again claiming that the production of palm oil is “sustainable”. The Jury d’Ethique Publicitaire ruled that production had impacts on the environment and the campaign was in breach of its environmental advertising code. |
Fuziah (left) said the composition announced yesterday by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz did not adhere to the provisions for the formation of a select committee. 
He said there was still time for Prime Minister najib Abdul Razak to invite political parties for a consultation before the committee was formed in Parliament on Oct 3. | You are subscribed to email updates from Anwar Ibrahim To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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