There was a directive from the Internal Security Ministry yesterday 'asking' all local mainstream newspapers not to give prominent coverage to the Bar Council march yesterday, Malaysiakini learnt today.

According to media sources, the instruction was made via telephone calls to the editors of the main dailies.

"They were told not to put the march protest news in the front page, back page or in the earlier pages," sources told Malaysiakini.

The editors were told that they could however highlight the march stories from page four onwards.

This is the first time this kind of instruction is being given to the local newspapers. Previous instructions have always been to ask them not to publish a particular issue.

More recently, newspapers were told not to publish any debates in the Islamic state issue, saying that they could only publish news if they contained comments from the prime minister or his deputy.

Malaysiakini could not confirm this latest instruction from the ministry as the official in charge refused to talk. Deputy Internal Security Minister Fu Ah Kiow could not be reached for comment.

However one editor of a vernacular press confirmed the instruction.

Following the instruction, none of the local dailies today gave prominent to the protest march. Many carried the story in their inside pages.

Controversial video clip

The 3.5km march from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister's Department yesterday, attended by a strong 2,000 crowd, was organised by the Bar Council as a result of dissatisfaction over the rot that has set in the judiciary in recent years.

The recent release of a video clip taken in 2002 showing senior lawyer VK Lingam brokering the appointment of judges was the last straw for the Bar.

Although the person at the other end of the Lingam telephone was not seen in the clip, the context of the conversation indicated that it was the present Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.

Ahmad Fairuz was the Chief Judge of Malaya during the time the video clip was recorded.

The Bar Council yesterday submitted two memorandums to the PM's Department - one called for the setting up of a royal commission of inquiry to look into the judiciary while the second called for the setting up of a judicial commission to overlook the appointment of judges.

Both Lingam and Ahmad Fairuz have not directly commented on the video clip but Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz had said that it was not the CJ who was on the phone with Lingam.

ACA to investigate

Meanwhile, the New Straits Times today reported that the Anti-Corruption Agency was looking for lawyer Lingam to assist in its investigation to determine the authenticity of a video clip.

The lawyer has been abroad for the past month and messages have been left at his firm and home asking him to get in touch with ACA officers upon his return.

He is said to have gone on a business trip to the United States and Papua New Guinea with a tycoon.

The paper said that Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail has directed the ACA to record a statement from the lawyer to verify the authenticity of the video clip.

"We want to know what he has to say about the video clip before proceeding further," Abdul Gani was quoted as saying.