Jamela Alindongan, a Filipino journalist with Al Jazeera's English Network in Kuala Lumpur, was several times accused of working for the "Royal Sulu Sultanate Army" while being questioned by unidentified police Special Branch officers.
This was despite Alindongan showing them her employee ID. She was questioned for two-and-a-half hours, the longest among the three Al Jazeera crew detained in the sea off Tanjung Labian village, near the Lahad Datu standoff between Malaysian security forces and Sulu sultanate supporters, on Feb 20.
The other two were senior Asia correspondent Steve Chao and cameraperson Mark Giddens. They and producer Alindongan were detained by the Malaysian authorities for at least six hours.
Al Jazeera in a statement issued by on Feb 22 said, quoting eyewitness accounts as well, that the three were questioned for between 30 minutes and two-and-a-half hours each, sometimes together but also separately.
While treated politely throughout the whole detention period, interrogating officers were not in uniform and when asked, declined to provide their full names or rank.
This was despite Alindongan showing them her employee ID. She was questioned for two-and-a-half hours, the longest among the three Al Jazeera crew detained in the sea off Tanjung Labian village, near the Lahad Datu standoff between Malaysian security forces and Sulu sultanate supporters, on Feb 20.
The other two were senior Asia correspondent Steve Chao and cameraperson Mark Giddens. They and producer Alindongan were detained by the Malaysian authorities for at least six hours.Al Jazeera in a statement issued by on Feb 22 said, quoting eyewitness accounts as well, that the three were questioned for between 30 minutes and two-and-a-half hours each, sometimes together but also separately.
While treated politely throughout the whole detention period, interrogating officers were not in uniform and when asked, declined to provide their full names or rank.
Authorities slammed for 'vague restrictions'
This matter was stated in a joint statement by regional media rights groups Centre for Independent Journalism of Malaysia, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility of the Philippines and Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance, all of which slammed the detentions and called for greater transparency in the Lahad Datu standoff.
They labelled the detention of the three journalists "unnecessarily long and the line of questioning on Alindongan to be unwarranted".
"We find the secrecy surrounding the identity of the interrogating officers to be unnecessary, given that the ones being questioned were not criminal suspects but journalists on duty and identifiable as such," the three groups said in a joint statement.
"In addition, we view the vague restrictions imposed on journalists covering the Lahad Datu "political negotiation/standoff" as an attempt at limiting journalists' access to providing accurate, timely and fair coverage of a public interest security issue, especially given the looming elections in Malaysia."
The three groups urged the Malaysian government to be more transparent in handling the standoff and to allow journalists access to report on the matter as it is of public interest.
They labelled the detention of the three journalists "unnecessarily long and the line of questioning on Alindongan to be unwarranted".
"We find the secrecy surrounding the identity of the interrogating officers to be unnecessary, given that the ones being questioned were not criminal suspects but journalists on duty and identifiable as such," the three groups said in a joint statement.
"In addition, we view the vague restrictions imposed on journalists covering the Lahad Datu "political negotiation/standoff" as an attempt at limiting journalists' access to providing accurate, timely and fair coverage of a public interest security issue, especially given the looming elections in Malaysia."
The three groups urged the Malaysian government to be more transparent in handling the standoff and to allow journalists access to report on the matter as it is of public interest.
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