Immigration English site says no travel block, BM says otherwise
Despite the inspector-general of police (IGP) clarifying that there is no overseas travel restriction imposed on graphic artist Fahmi Reza, the latter today pointed out a peculiar situation regarding his predicament.
And this bizarre situation involves the difference between the Immigration Department's Malay and English sites.
Taking to Facebook today, Fahmi shared that...
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The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Protecting kids from harassment starts at home
PETALING JAYA: Parents must be more proactive in protecting their children from sexual harassment threats, says Fadhlina Sidek ( pic ). The Education Minister said obscene online content that targets children must be promptly reported and taken down, following the recent discovery of a social media account featuring pictures of schoolchildren. 'Parents have to play a proactive role at home to teach their children and protect them from sexual harassment. They must ensure that their children's dignity is protected,' she said in a statement yesterday. 'The existence of these pages must be reported immediately and action taken to curb them. 'All educational institutions under the ministry are required to comply with the existing guidelines to address sexual harassment. 'Psychosocial support services must also be continuously strengthened to provide support for students,' Fadhlina said. On a related note, she said the ministry's Reproductive and Social Health Education (PEERS) module would raise awareness of reproductive health among students, teachers and parents. 'The module's teaching period will be extended with the implementation of the 2027 school curriculum,' she said. The existence of a Facebook group that posted photos of schoolchildren was revealed by a digital content creator, who said she found photos of herself and other pupils on the account. The account, which has since been taken down, had 12,000 members and circulated photos of schoolchildren with lewd comments. 'This group is sharing photos of underage kids, including photos of myself when I was still in school. The comments are so disgusting. This is wrong and is a crime,' said the influencer, who goes by the handle Mekyun on Instagram. The content creator had also forwarded all the information on the group to the authorities. Recently, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil had raised concerns about the continued existence of obscene content targeting children online. 'This raises questions about whether current laws and cooperation are enough or if we need a more strategic approach,' he said. Last year, a joint operation between the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission was conducted to track down and put a stop to child exploitation content online. He added that the authorities are expected to add more bite to deal with harmful online content once the Online Safety Act 2024, which was passed in December last year, comes into force soon.
The Star
13 hours ago
- The Star
From a Russian prison, US schoolteacher tells lawyers he was grabbed by Moscow's soldiers
FILE PHOTO: Stephen Hubbard, a U.S. citizen accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine against Russia in the course of a military conflict, is seen inside an enclosure for defendants on a screen during a video link to a hearing in a court building in Moscow, Russia October 7, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) -A 73-year-old American jailed by Russia as a mercenary for Ukraine protested his innocence when his U.S.-based legal team and family finally tracked him down in April, months after he vanished into the vast Russian prison system, they said. Stephen Hubbard, a retired schoolteacher, was sentenced last October to almost seven years in a penal colony after a court found him guilty of serving in a Ukrainian territorial defence unit against Russian forces, tasked with manning a checkpoint. Russian state media reported that he had entered a guilty plea in the closed-door trial. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has not been granted consular access to Hubbard, a State Department spokesperson said, adding that U.S. officials have requested his immediate release. Martin De Luca, his U.S.-based lawyer, told Reuters it was not until this April that his legal team learned Hubbard was being held in a facility in the Mordovia region, east of Moscow. "The first thing Hubbard wanted to talk about when he was able to make contact with the outside world was: 'It's not true,'" said De Luca, who made his first public comments on the case to the New York Times this week. "They (Russian soldiers) grabbed him from his house. He was not in any combat or military unit", De Luca recalled Hubbard saying. Joseph Coleman, a son from Hubbard's first marriage who lives in Cyprus, said he spoke to his father in prison by phone for less than five minutes on May 28. "He did sound a little down," Coleman told Reuters. "He said, 'I'm tired of being a slave.'" At least eight other Americans are currently imprisoned in Russia, which has stepped up arrests of alleged mercenaries for Ukraine since its 2022 invasion of its neighbour. But Hubbard is the only one designated by the U.S. as "wrongfully detained," making him a top candidate to be returned in any future prisoner exchange. The Kremlin said last month the two sides were discussing a possible swap involving nine people on each side. A document written on the letterhead of the IK-12 penal colony, signed by a prison official and seen by Reuters, says that Hubbard is incarcerated there. Russia's federal prison service did not respond to an emailed request for confirmation from Reuters. Other U.S. citizens previously jailed in Russia have been incarcerated in the same region. VIDEO CLUES Hubbard, a Michigan native who taught English abroad for decades, had moved to Izium in eastern Ukraine in 2014 to be with a Ukrainian girlfriend, but by 2022 he was living there alone, his family said. Russian forces captured Izium in April 2022. After his arrest, his family struggled to establish what had happened to him. They caught glimpses of him in videos posted online in pro-war Russian Telegram channels. One showed what appeared to be a staged interrogation. In another, Hubbard appeared with his hands zip-tied and whimpered as a man slapped him with a plastic sandal. His sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, identified her brother in both videos in conversations with Reuters. The agency could not verify when and where the videos were taken. "He is so non-military," Hubbard Fox told Reuters last year, expressing doubt that her brother would have taken up arms for any state. "He never had a gun, owned a gun, done any of that... He's more of a pacifist." TRACKING HIM DOWN After Hubbard's trial, De Luca and his team at a U.S. law firm began working to secure his release. They picked up the case in late February. It wasn't easy to find him, De Luca said. "Russia is still a functioning country. There are laws, bureaucracies, processes that get followed," he said. The team located Hubbard at the penal colony in Molochnitsa, a very small town about a seven-hour drive from Moscow. De Luca said the team has been able to call Hubbard three times since April. He described him as weak after months living in a prisoner-of-war camp. (Reporting by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
The Sun
13 hours ago
- The Sun
Mohd Na'im urges firm action against misuse of children's images on social media
KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs), Senator Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar, has urged authorities to take firm action against the misuse of children's and teenagers' images on social media, particularly involving immoral content. He was referring to recent revelations by actress and social media influencer Mek Yun, who disclosed that a photo of her from her school days was circulated in a Facebook group allegedly promoting sexual content involving children. 'Even more shocking was the open confession of a group member who admitted to committing sexual assault against a child. 'This is a heinous and disgusting crime that not only violates the law, but also transgresses the boundaries of humanity and the moral values of society,' he said in a statement today. Mohd Na'im stressed that protecting children was a shared responsibility that must be upheld by all members of society, and such heinous acts should not be allowed to persist. He also advised adults to be mindful of their behaviour and language when dealing with children, both in person and online. At the same time, he reminded the public of Islamic teachings that emphasised protection for the vulnerable. 'In this regard, the words of Allah provide very clear guidance, namely: 'Allah does not like evil words to be uttered publicly unless by one who has been wronged. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing' (Surah An-Nisa': 148). 'The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) also warned against neglecting the rights of the weak, particularly orphans and women. He said that anyone who fails to uphold their rights will bear the sin (Narrated by Ibn Majah – classified as sahih by al-Albani),' he said. Mohd Na'im also reminded parents to monitor their children's social media usage and educate them about digital safety, while urging the authorities to strengthen laws and monitoring of online sexual crimes.
