False News/Two-Minute Phone Call/Police Responses
The Two-Minute Phone Call - Police Responses
When Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing on Saturday, 8 March 2014 the Royal Malaysia police (RMP) initiated a criminal investigation.
Spokespersons for the RMP periodically provided information at media conferences, generally limited to issues such as the identity of travellers with stolen passports, progress of the Investigation, or in rare instances to correct mis-information or speculation. Formal Media Statements were rarely provided, so journalists simply quoted the police representative in articles they produced.
The following examples relate to statements made by or on behalf of the RMP regarding the alleged 2-minute phone call.
The Star
Sunday, 23 Mar 2014 1:55 PM MYT
Note: This article, available at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2014/03/23/missing-mh370-police-refute-capt-zaharies-mystery-call-report is locked. The extract below is from the Internet Archive. See the URL below.
Missing MH370: Cops refute Capt Zaharie’s mystery call report
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have refuted claims by a foreign tabloid that Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah (pic) received a call from a phone number registered with a dubious identity just before he flew Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on March 8.
Bukit Aman assistant chief inspector-general of police secretariat Asst Comm Datin Asmawati Ahmad said the foreign tabloid had no exclusive rights to the details of the investigations.
"The Inspector-General of Police has never issued any public statement that categorically place the MH370 investigation under an act of terrorism.
"Please be advised that the Royal Malaysia Police take no responsibility over the dissemination of such information, which originates from unnamed and unverified sources," she said, adding that the news in the tabloid was mere speculation.
ACP Asmawati was referring to a report by British tabloid The Mail that Captain Zaharie received a call from a phone number registered with a dubious identity just before before take-off on March 8.
The report claimed that investigators were taking a closer look at the two-minute call which was made using a prepaid SIM card registered under a woman's name - but with false identification. It also stated that police had traced the number to a shop selling prepaid SIM cards in Kuala Lumpur.
The report alleged that speculation that the plane might have been hijacked by terrorist emerged after Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar classified the case of the missing MH370 as an act of terrorism, which also included hijacking and sabotage.
Related story: Missing MH370: Pilot received call from mystery woman before take-off, says report
Source: The Star (Malaysia) via the Internet Archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20140324134544/http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/23/Missing-MH370-Police-refute-Capt-Zaharies-mystery-call-report/
Astro Awani
Mac 23, 2014 16:37 MYT
MH370: Mystery call to Capt Zaharie 'mere speculation' - Police
Claims made by a UK tabloid of a phone call received by Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah from a number registered using a dubious identity just before the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) MH370 plane took off, were "mere speculations".
Bukit Aman assistant chief inspector-general of police secretariat Asst Comm Datin Asmawati Ahmad said that the newspaper, The Mail, had no exclusive rights to the details of the investigations.
"Please be advised that the Royal Malaysia Police take no responsibility over the dissemination of such information, which originates from unnamed and unverified sources," Asmawati was quoted as saying by local daily The Star.
Earlier on Sunday, The Mail (The Sunday edition of The Daily Mail) claimed in a report that Zaharie received a two-minute call from a ‘mystery woman’ just before take-off on March 8.
“Investigators are treating it as potentially significant because anyone buying a pay-as-you-go SIM card in Malaysia has to fill out a form giving their identity card or passport number,” said the tabloid, which quoted unnammed investigators.
The report claimed that the the number was traced to a shop selling SIM cards in Kuala Lumpur. It further said that the SIM was purchased ‘very recently’ by someone who gave a woman’s name – but using a false identity.
“The discovery raises fears of a possible link between Captain Zaharie, 53, and terror groups whose members routinely use untraceable SIM cards. Everyone else who spoke to the pilot on his phone in the hours before the flight took off has already been interviewed,” said the report.
The Malaysian Insider
24 March 2014
This extract is from an article published by Yahoo! News with the headline FBI to question MH370 pilot’s wife originally sourced from The Malaysian Insider.
Most of the article related to the Captain's family. The statement attributed to the RMP has been emphasised.
...
The Daily Mail, on Sunday, had reported that Zaharie had received a mysterious phone call from an unknown woman using a mobile number obtained using a false identity.
That report said the call was being treated as "significant" as a proper identity document is required in order to buy a prepaid SIM card. The number, the report said, has been traced to a phone shop in Kuala Lumpur.
In an immediate response to that Daily Mail article, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar dismissed the report and asked the newspaper to provide the telephone number which would be "helpful".
"If not, it is mere speculation," Khalid was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Source: https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/fbi-mh370-pilot-wife-080357074.html