Free Malaysia Today (FMT) has issued an apology after one of its reporters posed a question during a public lecture that was believed to have carried racial overtones.
In a statement on Wednesday, FMT said that the incident occurred during a public lecture featuring United Kingdom politician George Galloway titled “Gaza Exposes the Complicity of International Actors” held on January 12.
“FMT wishes to put on record that it had no prior knowledge of the journalist’s intention to raise the question, nor did we approve of his comments.
“When the matter then became the subject of discussion on social media on January 13, FMT took immediate action by opening an internal investigation, which has led to disciplinary action being taken against the journalist.
“In the course of the investigation, it also came to FMT’s attention that, contrary to statements made by various persons on social media, the journalist in question did not use the word ‘apartheid’ at the forum. Be that as it may, FMT recognises the inherent sensitivities contained in the journalist’s comments and in the question, which he posed, which Mr Galloway rightly denounced,” the statement said.
The statement was signed by both FMT executive chairman Nelson Fernandez and managing director Azeem Abu Bakar.