Khairy wants case against CodeBlue dropped, says report had good intention

 

The Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) wants the authorities to drop their investigation against news portal CodeBlue for reporting about an outbreak at a vaccine centre in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin (above), who is in charge of the country's vaccination programme, told the Dewan Rakyat today that he would speak to the relevant agencies into "letting go" of the issue.

"Although the decision to investigate or charge is out of my job scope, in spirit, I agree that no action should be taken against anyone who does a report that aims at improving the condition at our vaccination centres.

"I will discuss with the relevant bodies and law enforcement agencies to make sure that we just let go of what happened, as the report was made in the spirit of improving our National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme," he said.

Khairy (BN-Rembau) was answering a question by Wilfred Madius Tangau (Upko-Tuaran), who raised the issue of authorities probing CodeBlue.

In its July 18 report, the portal claimed that the authorities failed to adequately act after Covid-19 cases were discovered at the Setia City Convention Centre (SCCC), which CITF uses as one of its vaccination centres.

Quoting volunteers at SCCC, the report claimed authorities hid Covid-19 cases and failed to comply with the standard operating procedure (SOP) or conduct mass testing following the outbreak.

In response, the CITF on July 19 issued a statement disputing the article and stressed that immediate action was taken after they discovered seven personnel at the centre tested positive for Covid-19 on July 11.

Following this, on July 26, police hauled up CodeBlue editor-in-chief Boo Su-Lyn for questioning at the Shah Alam police headquarters.

In a statement, the portal said Boo was being investigated under Section 505 of the Penal Code relating to statements conducing to public mischief, which carries a punishment of up to two years imprisonment, a fine or both upon conviction.

She is also being investigated under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, which relates to the improper use of network facilities or services. - Mkini