A human rights activist has been cleared three years after she was arrested for showing Channel 4 documentary No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka.
The screening was raided by 30 officials from the Malaysian Home Ministry, the police and Immigration Officials. Lena Hendry was charged with showing the film without approval from Malaysia’s Censorship Board.
Yesterday a magistrate ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a “prima facie” case against Hendry and acquitted her.
No Fire Zone director Callum Macrae said: "The truth about the terrible crimes committed at the end of the war in Sri Lanka is at last beginning to emerge. The decision of the Malaysian authorities to try to silence this film and brave human rights defenders like Lena at the behest of the then Sri Lanka government was truly shameful.
“I am very happy indeed for Lena and all her supporters. I am also very happy that the Malaysian court has rejected this shocking attempt to silence legitimate protest. I hope the Malaysian authorities will learn their lesson and repeal their repressive censorship laws.”
Last year 100 leading film-makers, writers, artists and lawyers from around the world signed an open letter calling on the Malaysian government to drop the charges against Hendry.
If found guilty, she faced up to three years in jail.
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