The Home Ministry has issued warning letters to two monthly magazines for flouting regulations involving their publishing permits. Wasilah , which made its debut last month, was given a Jan 8 deadline to "show cause" for not using its complete name, Al-Wasilah . The ministry also charged that Tamadun , a pro-Opposition magazine, had "diverted from the scope of its original permit application".

Malaysiakini reported last week that PAS newspaper, Harakah , was given a Jan 8 deadline to respond to a show-cause letter from the ministry before action would be taken against the biweekly tabloid.

In an official letter from the Home Ministry dated Dec 24, Wasilah editor Ahmad Lufti Othman was also accused of transferring the publishing permit, which was originally granted to Meli Info Media, to a new company, Penerbitan Pemuda.

Wasilah's marketing manager Rozani Morad, however, told malaysiakini that "the question of transferring the permit does not arise as we [Penerbitan Pemuda] only assist in the preparation of articles and distribution of the magazine."

He added that, "Lufti is only responsible as an editor and he was chosen based on his vast experience in writing. I, on the other hand, made my contribution through my distribution experience."

Meanwhile, Tamadun , which has been in the market for over three years, had been accused of publishing articles that were more inclined towards politics. The ministry, in a Oct 28 letter to the publisher, claimed that "the political articles published focused mainly on the opposition parties" and these articles were feared to have "offended some parties especially individuals."

"There were also articles that brought up old stories which could cause hatred among the people towards the government. The ministry seriously views the articles published in this magazine which does not comply by the original scope of its permit application, as well as the unbalanced nature of the articles," said the warning letter.

Tamadun was first published in 1996 but its sales rocketed after the economic crisis in July 1997. The magazine notched a record of sorts when 140,000 copies were sold a month after the sacking of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sept 2, 1998. In a related development, weekly newspaper Eksklusif had also been accused by the ministry for spreading "rumours". The tabloid received a warning letter from the ministry a week after the last general elections.

Meanwhile, bimonthly magazine Detik has yet to receive a response from the ministry on the state of its publication permit. Malaysiakini was told that the ministry had came up with additional objections to the renewal of Detik's publishing permit last week. This included the accusation that the magazine did not use the complete address of the publisher. The ministry also questioned the appointment of Ahmad Lufti Othman as the chief editor of Detik .

[#1] Versi BM [/#]