The Edge fails court bid to stay three-month ban

(Malay Mail Online) – A High Court dismissed today an application by The Edge Financial Daily and The Edge Weekly for a stay order against the business papers’ three-month suspension pending a judicial review of the ban.

According to Senior Federal Counsel Alice Loke, Justice Datuk Asmabi Mohamad, who delivered the decision in chambers, gave three reasons for rejecting the application for stay: that the review could result in a compensation award; that the publications did not justify their claim that the ban would cause them irreparable harm; and that they had not shown any special circumstances to warrant a stay.

“In the event The Edge wins in the substantive application, they can still be adequately compensated.

“So they don’t have to worry about the pecuniary loss, loss in revenue, which they mentioned in their affidavit that they will suffer if stay is not granted,” Loke told reporters.

The hearing for the business publications’ judicial review of the Home Ministry’s suspension that took effect on July 27 has been set for September 7.

The Home Ministry last month suspended the printing permits of The Edge Financial Daily and its weekly sister for three months over their reports on state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Putrajaya has claimed that The Edge‘s 1MDB reports could affect public order and said the business papers’ reporting had created negative public perceptions towards 1MDB and had implicated the government, national news agency Bernama reported last month.