Best-selling English newspaper The Star has rejected a Barisan Alternatif advertisement which showed a photo of sacked deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim spotting a black eye, said PRM Vice-President Sheryll Stothard.

The newspaper has also demanded amendments to two other advertisements taken out by BA before agreeing to run them.

The photo in the rejected advertisement appeared under the headline "Blindfolded, handcuffed, and then beaten... (You would have a headache too)", depicted Anwar's black eye after he was beaten up while in police custody.

"Is Malaysia really 'safe and sound' under the Barisan Nasional?" the advertisement asked. "He deserves better, you deserve better, we deserve better, Malaysia deserves better."

The Star has also demanded a number of changes to two advertisements which are due to appear tomorrow. In the one entitled "Be Malaysian, Be Free, Be Truly Proud", the newspaper wanted the words "fear" and "violence" removed or replaced.

The third paragraph of the original advertisement said: "For thirty years, Malaysians have lived in fear that if Umno and the BN lose, there will be violence."

This has been changed to: "For thirty years, Malaysians have lived in apprehension that if the BN loses, there will be instability."

In the following paragraph of the original, it read: "It is time to call a stop to fear. To start building a unity based upon justice, upon fairness. Not fear. Not bribery."

This was altered to: "It is time to call a stop to this. To start building a unity based upon justice, upon fairness."

In the original advertisement, the final line stated: "Thirty years is enough. Say no to fear." The new version was: "Thirty years is enough. Say no.

According to BA officials, the changes are made apparently to dissociate the Barisan Nasional from veiled threats of fear and violence. Over the past few weeks, caretaker Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has warned numerous times that violence would break out during the election campaign. He has been criticised by the opposition for stoking fear among voters in the run up to Monday's elections.

In the second advertisement which was also altered by The Star, the original had the following phrases: "setting wife against husband, race against race, religion against religion," below the headline, "Are these Malaysian values?"

According to PRM media liaison Ivy Josiah, these phrases were removed from the advertisement.

The original advertisement continued with, "Fair play means not hitting below the belt. Disqualify those who do."

This, said Josiah, was amended to, "Disqualify those who think so. Make Malaysia decent again."

Parti Rakyat Malaysia's president and Keadilan PJ Selatan candidate Dr Syed Husin Ali said despite the fact that the advertisements were heavily edited, the BA has decided to bow to the changes demanded by The Star.

"We had to agree to it as we do not have a choice," he said.

Last Monday, BA had chastised the local newspapers for refusing to run their advertisements to counter BN's advertising blitz. The Star and other Chinese dailies eventually agreed to run some of their advertisements.

Since Tuesday, Sin Chew Jit Poh, Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press have published a number of BA ads. The Star has also ran two unedited BA advertisements on Nov 26 and 27.

Previous report: