'Suara Keadilan' courting danger, warns Hisham
The Home Ministry is prepared to shut down the premises occupied by Suara Keadilan as well as that of its printer, if the PKR organ continues to publish without the required permit.
The Home Ministry is prepared to shut down the premises occupied by Suara Keadilan and its printer, if the PKR organ continues to publish without the required permit.
"Of course they can be (shut down)," said Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, when asked if this is a likely course of action.
“Regardless of whether it’s Suara Keadilan or Suara Perkasa , or other media, they must follow the (current) regulations and rules.”
Hishammuddin explained that, in the case of Suara Keadilan , the publishing permit had expired on June 30.
However, PKR leaders yesterday vowed to continue publishing despite specific instructions from the Home Ministry to cease publishing.
"Their arrogance in wanting to go on with publishing, this is clearly a violation, it is very clear. This is against the laws of the nation and this falls under the purview of the publishing (and Quranic text controls) division," the minister told journalists at the Parliament lobby today.
He said division director Zaitun Ab Samad will consider the new development and will look into what action to take.
"The matter is for the publication division to advise us. The (PKR) statement was only made yesterday," he added.
In principle, noted Hishammuddin, all publications operating without a permit - including magazines and tabloids - are closely monitored for slander and inappropriate content.
"We must look into what action is to be taken and what the ministry is capable of doing. If not, what is the use of the enforcement division?" he asked.
‘Fair decision’
Asked about Suara Keadilan's claim that its application to renew its permit was submitted in April but that the ministry had delayed processing it, Hishammuddin said it is standard practice to resolve all outstanding issues before renewing permits.
"They will decide on the renewal if and when issues being discussed right now (the four show-cause letters issued to Suara Keadilan ) are resolved,” he said.
“So I think it’s a fair decision on the part of the division, but I don’t want you all to just look at
Suara Keadilan
because we have been doing this for all the media.”
The PKR mouthpiece ran into problems with its most-recent issue, in which the main article alleged that the Federal Land Development Authority is bankrupt. The claim has been denied.
By then, too, the publisher had failed to respond to three show-cause letters issued by the ministry earlier this year.
Although it eventually submitted an explanation, the ministry has suspended the publication, using provisions of the Printing Presses and Publications Act.
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