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| Southeast Asia |
| Malaysia bans newspapers, raising fears of clampdown |
| 2009-03-24 |
| Malaysia's government has banned two opposition newspapers as incoming premier Najib Razak gets ready to take power, raising opposition fears of a looming clampdown. The party papers of the People's Justice Party (PKR) and the Malaysian Pan-Islamic Party (PAS), two of the three parties in the opposition coalition, said they received letters on Monday from the Home Ministry informing them of a three-month ban. No reasons were specified for the ban issued by the ministry's Quranic Texts and Publications Division in a letter faxed to the editors of PAS' Harakah and PKR's Suara Keadilan newspapers. The ban came just a day before the start of party elections in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the main party in the coalition that has ruled Malaysia for 51 years. Those elections will see Najib, who says he wants to open up the economy to more foreign investment, confirmed as party president ahead of his transition to the post of premier, currently held by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, early next month. "This is clearly a clampdown on press freedom, especially since we have been one of the most critical publications at a time when both the UMNO assembly and by-elections are approaching," said Tian Chua, a PKR official. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 If they are banned - then what's the point of raising fears. Your fears are realized at that point. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2009-03-24 10:33 |