Malaysia - March 2025

In a context of increasing intimidation of the media, the Putrajaya magistrates' court charged journalist B. Nantha Kumar with receiving a bribe on 14 March in what press freedom advocates allege is retaliation for his reporting. In recent months, there have been instances of questioning of reporters over a story on police leadership and the seizure of an editor’s computer for reporting on a minister’s public statements in January. Kumar published a story on 22 February alleging a former immigration official was the leader of a migrant trafficking ring and on 28 February was arrested in a sting operation. Prosecutors allege he accepted a bribe to delete articles about the trafficking operation. In an account published by his employer Malaysiakini, Kumar denies the charges and details how he agreed to meet with men he believed to be members of the ring to discuss a bribe at the urging of immigration officials, and that he thought he was aiding an investigation. Malaysiakini is a respected media outlet which has been long subject to state harassment.

Sources: Committee to Protect Journalists, Free Malaysia Today