Penang Police Chief To Meet Journalists Group Over Gag Directive

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Penang police chief Khaw Kok Chin will meet representatives of a journalists’ group tomorrow to clear the air over an alleged ban by the state police headquarters against the media contacting him for comments.
The police commissioner said he believed there was a misunderstanding between the Penang Mutiara Media Club and the state police, and hoped to clear the air during the "ramah mesra" session.
"Tomorrow, the Penang Mutiara Media Club president and its delegation will pay a courtesy call to my office.
"I believe this was only a matter of misunderstanding, and I will explain the real situation to them," Khaw (above) said in a text message.
Malaysiakini contacted Khaw to seek his response to a statement by the group yesterday, where they criticised the Penang police public relations unit for barring them from contacting Khaw directly.
Saying that it was a move that stifled media freedom, the group claimed that an officer from the unit had called journalists as being unethical for obtaining comments directly from Khaw after curi-curi (furtively) contacting him.
Khaw told Malaysiakini that he had never blocked the press from contacting him.
"I had never blocked reporters from contacting me. Only that sometimes when I am busy, I may not be able to respond to them," he added.
Khaw was in the news recently after it was revealed that he received a threat following the crackdown on loan-sharking activities in the state.
The threat was in the form of a letter addressed to the police chief which contained “hell notes” and a warning to stop the operation against the unlicensed money lenders. - Mkini

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