The Home Minister has reportedly confiscated copies of two major opposition publications Harakah and Suara Keadilan , in various states.

According to Harakah ’s online news site, HarakahDaily , copies of the PAS’ party organ were said to have been seized in Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Kedah and Perak.

NONE The paper’s marketing manager Ahmad Faisal Tawang had said he received calls from vendors in the morning, informing him that  not only  ministry were representatives  seizing copies of the paper, they were also raiding the vendors’ premises.

He said the paper’s confiscated were Friday’s edition, dated May 24-26, which featured the frontpage headline ' GST hadiah BN untuk rakyat (GST is BN’s gift to the rakyat)'.

Some 500 copies were allegdly seized in Malacca, whileover 1,000 were taken in Alor Setar, in Kedah.

NONE Meanwhile, it was also stated on Twitter that copies of PKR mouthpiece Suara Keadilan were similarly confiscated in four states today.

In a related development, the home ministry said that the raid was conducted under Section 5 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA), for breach of the permit conditions.

One such condition restricts the distribution of party organs to party members only.

A total of 1,408 copies of Suara Keadilan , 1,062 copies of Harakah and 70 copies of The Rocket were seized during the raid nationwide which began yesterday.

"This operation will be continued to ensure the enforcement of the PPPA to ensure all quarters do not breach the Act," read a Home Ministry press release.

‘Kedahans will be kept in the dark’

PKR Alor Star MP Gooi Hsiao Leung said he believed the latest crackdown on opposition newspapers is carried out because BN has failed to stop hundreds of thousands of Malaysians coming out in support of Blackout 505 rallies across the country, despite using threats of intimidation and arrests of political leaders and activists.

NONE “During the past five years, Kedahans had enjoyed their right and access to free expression, speech and information, particularly papers belonging to political parties, without any harassment from the authorities,” he said in a statement.

“With this latest repressive move, Kedahans, especially those living in rural areas who have no or very limited access to digital media, will be kept in the dark and be deprived of access to opposition news,” he added.

In a related development, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail condemned the seizure as not even 10 days after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak took his oath of office, Umno and BN has continued with their arrogant ways to curb opposition party mouthpieces.

“They have gone to seize Suara Keadilan in Ipoh, Malacca, Johor Baru, Seremban, Bangi and Kota Baru.

“PKR envisages that this stern and cruel undemocratic action will continue following the arrest of Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Adam Adli Abdul Halim, Tian Chua, Haris Ibrahim and Tamrin Ghafar.

“The seizure of these papers is directed to make Malaysians stupid by not giving them an opportunity to read alternative reports. The seizure is politically motivated and we regret that Umno and BN had resorted in such manner as the ruling coalition are afraid because they obtained power despite obtaining a minority mandate,” said Saifuddin.

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