Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) in a letter to Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak expressed serious concern that the trial of Malaysiakini Chief Executive Officer, PremeshChandran on May 15 over the airing of an allegedly ‘offensive’ video on KiniTV website.

PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali in his letter to Malaysian government demanded to immediately drop all the charges and stop harassing media practitioners including journalists, rather than engaging in censorship. Ali urged instead of narrowing spaces for democratic debates, the government should intensify efforts to openly address the serious issues that have been raised.

According to the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), Premesh has been charged under the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998 for airing a press conference held on 27 July, 2016 by Khairuddin, a former politician in which he demanded the resignation of Attorney-General Apandi Ali for the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) case that has drawn international investigations.

Khairuddin also demanded that the AG contact his American counterpart to reveal details of their investigation, which he said implied that the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak, was a key suspect.

Media coverage and public criticism on the 1MDB case have been censored, blocked or fall into criminal charges.