PKR paper faces closure as permit expires, official sanctions loom

ARCHIVES 2010

By admin-s On Jul 1, 2010

(TMI) KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — PKR weekly newspaper Suara Keadilan is at risk of being shut down as its printing permit expired yesterday and the Home Ministry has expressed dissatisfaction with the party organ’s reply to a show-cause letter

The powerful ministry, which has control over all publications in the country, had asked Suara Keadilan last Monday to explain its headline article for the June 22-29 edition that claimed the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) was bankrupt.

Suara Keadilan had then responded to the show cause letter on Tuesday.

“Today, KDN (Home Affairs Ministry) replied and said that they were not satisfied with our reply,” Suara Keadilan’s lawyer Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin told The Malaysian Insider today.

The ministry’s Deputy Secretary-General (Security) Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ab Aziz had said that the newspaper’s front-page article titled “Felda Bangkrap” in its June 22-29 issue had the potential to undermine public order because it could stir up people to rise against an organisation without a valid reason.

After the newspaper’s printing permit expired yesterday, the Home Ministry said that they will decide if the permit should be renewed by taking into account the said article and other articles published by Suara Keadilan.