More journalists were jailed in Asia than any other region last year, said the The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in its latest annual report o­n attacks o­n the press which was released today.

The report said most attacks o­n journalists in Asia happened far from the eyes of the international press.

"Asia's authoritarian governments have long used national security legislation to jail journalists, and such laws are the primary reason that Asia led the world last year in the number of imprisoned journalists, with 78 behind the bars in the region out of a world total of 136.

"The Internet has become a way for citizens in authoritarian countries such as China, Vietnam and Laos to escape state censorship and publish with relative freedom. In response, governments increasingly use national security laws to imprison writers who publish critical reports o­nline," read the chapter o­n Asia.

CPJ said the most spectacular abuse of press freedom under the guise of protecting national security occurred in Nepal.

"A violent uprising by Maoist rebels prompted the Nepalese government to declare a state of emergency and introduce sweeping anti-terrorism legislation in November 2001.

"The state of emergency, which was lifted in August 2002, suspended constitutional guarantees of press freedom and civil rights... Hundreds of journalists were detained under the broad provisions of anti-terrorism ordinance," said the committee.

Seven killed

The report noted that seven journalists were killed last year for their work in Asia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl who was allegedly murdered by Islamic militants in Pakistan.

"Pearl's murder by Islamic militants sent a chilling signal to reporters attempting to cover the activities of terrorist activities across Asia," it said.

On Southeast Asia, CPJ said the regional governments continued to interfere in the media through a combination of legal and financial pressures.

Citing Malaysia as an example, the committee said "the announcement that longtime Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad will resign in 2003 is not expected to improve the repressive climate for the press there".

"His designated successor is likely to continue the legal coercion and ownership restrictions that have been in effect for 25 years," it added.

It said strict licensing laws, self-censorship and pervasive political influence still dominated the news published in the country with the exception of those which appeared o­n the Internet.

"The Internet has so far remained censorship-free. The courageous o­nline newspaper Malaysiakini is the o­nly truly independent source of information in the country," it added.

Tight control

Several cases mentioned to illustrate the tight control of press in Malaysia included:

The blocking of distribution of three Americans news magazines Newsweek, Time and Far Eastern Economic Review last January and February. The government considered certain stories to be "inaccurate and untrue" for alleging that there were links between the al-Qaeda network and groups in Malaysia.

Former journalist Zainuddin Maidin (photo), while being the information ministry's parliamentary secretary, had criticised the Western subversive elements for "infiltrating" the local media with "Western media imperialism" as well as accused journalists from the Philippines and Thailand of trying to influence Malaysia to suit Western interests. Zainuddin was later "promoted to the even more influential post of deputy information minister".

Suspension of Malay language tabloid Perdana Sari for three months since early May after the publication alleged that Umno Puteri chief Azalina Othman Said was a lesbian.

Suspension of new Chinese newspaper Oriental Daily News 's publishing permit o­n Sept 29 last year, a day after it had its dry-run launch. The suspension was done without explanation but observers linked it to the political pressure exerted by MCA, which had earlier acquired two Chinese newspapers, and another dominant media publishing group.

Since Mahathir's announcement of his retirement plan, aides to his successor, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad, were said to have "begun ordering newspapers to increase their coverage of Abdullah".

The proposal by the "conservative, private" Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) to set up a media council that does not intend to seek to repeal the existing Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 but instead to become "a semi-governmental body with additional power to control the media".

The massive layoff of over 200 employees at The Sun after the English daily ran a story about a foiled assassination plot against Mahathir. Observers suspect that the government had used the story as an "excuse to rid The Sun of a number of independent-minded journalists".

In its report, CPJ also noted that the Thai government under Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had used tactics similar to Malaysia to "curb o­ne of the region's freest media" by banning foreign news reports and domestic radio broadcasts critical of official policies.

"Thai journalists reported numerous instances throughout 2002 of backdoor political and financial pressure applied against the media," it said.