By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysia’s home ministry has suspended the publishing permits of two publications that reported material critical of the debt-ridden state investment arm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and the country's leadership.
The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily were suspended for three months for intense reporting of 1MDB and the controversies surrounding the fund, with the ministry saying its coverage was "prejudicial or likely to be prejudicial to public order and security."
Their news articles were also alarming public opinion or were likely to be prejudicial to public and national interest, according to a letter the ministry sent to the publications Friday.
Both the publications, alongside the recently blocked whistleblower website Sarawak Report, had published reports on alleged wrongdoings and mismanagement involving 1MDB and the finance ministry.
The home ministry told The Edge Media Group -- the owner of the recently suspended publications -- that failure to stop publication for three months would result in the withdrawal of their permits.
Ho Kay Tat, the publisher and CEO of the papers, expressed the group’s disappointment, telling Anadolu Agency that the law had been turned against media institutions.
"All we did was to expose a national scam to cheat Malaysians of billions of ringgit but it was said to be detrimental to public and national interest,” he said.
"This is nothing more than a move to shut us down in order to shut us up. We will go to court to try and get the suspension lifted," he said over the phone.
In early June, Malaysia's central bank commenced a formal inquest into 1MDB -- which has chalked up debt of 42 billion Ringgit ($11 billion) – to investigate whether it had contravened the bank’s rules and legislation in its foreign investments and offshore borrowings.
The Sarawak Report, alongside the Wall Street Journal, had released reports earlier this month quoting documents allegedly from the ongoing probe that claimed that $700 million moved among 1MDB-linked government agencies, banks and entities, before ending up in Prime Minister Najib Razak’s accounts.
The Sarawak Report has been blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, which said in a statement Sunday that its contents “could be fake.”
“Such contents could affect the peace and cause national instability, disrupt public order and affect economic stability," it said, adding that the measure would remain in place under the probe into 1MDB was finalized.
Razak - who established 1MDB in 2009 and chairs its advisory board - has denied using funds for personal gain, referring the allegations to his lawyers. A special Malaysian task force comprised of the attorney-general’s office, police, anti-corruption authorities and the Central Bank is currently investigating the media claims.
