The office of former editor of banned magazine Detik , Ahmad Lutfi Othman, was raided by six Home Ministry officers this afternoon. Hundreds of copies of a new publication, Haraki , were confiscated on the ground it was published without a permit.

The seizure was based on a warrant issued by Kuala Lumpur magistrate Norhayati Abd. Jabar, which allowed the ministry to search for "subscription orders, designs, articles, equipment, books, documents and other proofs in connection with the offence".

The alleged "offence" under Section 5(1) A of Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 relates to the offence of printing and publishing a publication without permit.

A total of 545 copies of Haraki were seized from the premises of Penerbitan Pemuda at Jalan Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, which is owned by Lutfi.

The 28-page tabloid, which hit the streets last week, has on its front page a pictorial report on the "Black 14" demonstration held on April 15 at the National Mosque by supporters of jailed deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Lutfi said the Home Ministry should not resort to the hostile action of raiding his office.

He said to his knowledge, publications such as Haraki which are not "regular", do not require a publishing permit.

Yesterday, the Home Ministry also led two teams to search the publishing offices of Suria Janib in Kuala Lumpur, and another company in Shah Alam which printed Haraki ("[#1] Syarikat penerbitan, percetakan Haraki digeledah [/#]", 8 Mei).