KUALA LUMPUR: Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar today urged media practitioners not to pressure the next of kin of victims of the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 crash to the extent of causing disharmony.
He said the media organisations must understand the situation of the families and next of kin of the victims who were still in a state of trauma as a result of the loss of their loved ones.
"The media, including reporters and photographers, should not place too much pressure on family members of the MH17 victims to the extent of evoking their emotion.
"The same goes to the family members of the victims, do not be too emotional as to behave excessively," he told Bernama when contacted, here.
He said this when commenting on the incident involving a press photographer from the New Straits Times (NST) who was assaulted by a family member of the victim at the Nirvana Memorial Centre, Sungai Besi, here.
In the incident at 10.45am, NST photographer Mohd Aizuddin Akmal Saad, 29, was punched in the face by a family member of the crash victim and injuring his nose.
Aizuddin later lodged a police report at the Sungai Besi Police Station.
Khalid said police would take action against the man who caused the injury.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur police chief, Datuk Tajudin Md Isa said police were still investigating the incident to determine the cause of the incident.
"For the moment, we have yet to record a statement from the victim...the perpetrator will be called up to give a statement to assist in the investigation," he said.
On July 17, all the 298 passengers and crew of the MAS flight MH17 died when the aircraft, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was believed to have been shot down over east Ukraine. - BERNAMA