Media confused public on so-called Hudud Bill, says minister

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak reminded local media practitioners to deliver information accurately and not to confuse the people.

This was because some media published news which had yet to be verified, so much so the information caused confusion among the people, he said.

As an example, Salleh said was the issue of the tabling of a Private Member's Bill on the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction)(Amendment) Bill 2016 by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang in Dewan Rakyat on Thursday.

Salleh said the bill was not on hudud as published by newspapers.

"The information was completely untrue as what took place was proposed amendments to Syariah laws, apart from being a private proposal and in the democracy we practise, one can submit a private bill and it depends on its suitability of whether it is concrete or not," he said.

Salleh was speaking at the launch of Bernama Radio in Kota Kinabalu. The station is broadcast on the FM107.9.

In this regard, Salleh said even though the media competed to deliver information fast, the news had to be verified first to ensure the people get the correct information and did not cause confusion.

On the claim on Sabah by the Philippines, Salleh said the matter need not be debated anymore as it was clear Sabahans had chosen to be with Malaysia.

"We do not recognise the Filipino claim on Sabah as the people have chosen to be with Malaysia," he said.

On Wednesday, Philippines president-elect Rodrigo Duterte issued a statement saying the Philippines would pursue its claim on Sabah.

According to Salleh, over the years they had dropped the claim but it was revived due to the local politics in that country.

- Bernama