Malaysian authorities have suspended a business newspaper whose aggressive reporting on a financial scandal has rocked the federal government, a move the newspaper and media groups condemned on Friday as a serious violation of press freedom.
In a notice on Thursday, the Ministry of Home Affairs suspended The Edge Media Group’s publishing permits for 3 months, saying reports in regards to the scandal surrounding state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) threaten “public order.”
Edge released a series of disclosures over the past 12 months detailing alleged fraud, mismanagement and misappropriation of funds related to 1MDB, which is closely linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak.
“This is nothing more than a move to shut us down, to silence us,” said Edge Group CEO Ho Kay Tat.
Najib and 1MDB officials strongly deny any wrongdoing.
The Prime Minister rejected it “Wall Street” each day reports it as “political sabotage”, while 1MDB claims that it didn’t provide any funds to the Prime Minister.
1MDB can be scuffling with $11 billion in debt, largely driven by its desire to amass assets within the energy industry.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced Edges reports about 1MDB were “harmful or more likely to harm public order and security, more likely to alarm public opinion or more likely to harm the general public and national interest.”
Ho, nevertheless, said: “We miss out on how the exposure of a fraud designed to defraud Malaysian residents of billions of ringgit might be construed as detrimental to the general public and national interest.”
The Malaysian Center for Independent Journalism called the printing suspension “a particularly harsh measure and a violation of freedom of expression and media freedom specifically.”
The suspension, which is effective from July 27, applies to printing houses Edge Financial Journal AND Edge WeeklyHo said, adding that the corporate would fight the suspension in court.
Edges stated that online platforms will remain unaffected.
In the Nineteen Nineties, Malaysia passed laws protecting the domestic web from censorship, a part of a pledge to draw foreign investment in advanced technology.
