'Suara Keadilan' gets a lifeline
PKR mouthpiece Suara Keadilan will not have its publications permit suspended or revoked just yet, as the Home Ministry first needs to review the explanation provided by the publisher.
PKR mouthpiece Suara Keadilan will not have its publications permit suspended or revoked just yet, as the Home Ministry needs to review the explanation provided by the publisher.
“We have received a reply to our June 28 letter seeking an explanation over the article on the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) and we will have to review this," said Home Ministry secretary of control of publications and al-Quran text Zaitun Ab Samad.
"But there is still time. They will only be publishing their next edition in mid-July.”
She said the matter will be discussed at a panel meeting on publication permits convened twice a week and headed by ministry secretary-general Mahmood Adam.
Suara Keadilan was issued a show-cause letter for an article which alleged that Felda is bankrupt.
Zaitun added that the ministry has also received a letter from the publisher's lawyer in response to the three show-cause letters sent prior to June 28.
Yesterday, Suara Keadilan chief editor Dzulkarnain Taib (right) told Malaysiakini that its lawyer had requested copies of the three letters.
Asked why the ministry had not provided copies of the letters as requested by the publisher at a meeting last week, Zaitun said: “It's not that we were unable to do so, it was just late in the day and they wanted it there and then.”
She said that she would have to discuss the matter with her officers as to whether or not to provide the copies to Suara Keadilan.
'Other offences involved'
She said the three letters pertained not just to the contents of Suara Keadilan, but also to other offences under the Printing presses and Publications Act 1984 in relation to political party publications.
This includes distributing the publication to those who are not members of the party, or selling it at places other than party bases and publication headquarters.
“We will follow the procedures for their permit renewal, and will take into account their track record before making a decision,” she said.
Suara Keadilan was awarded a printing and publication permit in 2007, but had its permit suspended for three months in 2008.
Zaitun (right) added that, from 2009 to May 2010, the ministry had issued 53 verbal and written warnings to newspapers, nine to tabloids and six to political party publications.
