Former editor of banned magazine Detik , Ahmad Lutfi Othman, today urged the Home Ministry to seize the latest issue of Umno bimonthly tabloid, Wawasan Merdeka , for violating the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

"The Home Ministry is clearly practising 'double standards' in enforcing the law under the Act. It strictly acts against pro-reformasi and opposition-inclined publications, which criticise the government and its henchmen," said Lutfi.

Yesterday, malaysiakini reported that Wawasan Merdeka does not carry any Home Ministry's permit number as required by the Act.

The Act also states that every publication printed or published within Malaysia shall have printed legibly in Bahasa Malaysia or the English language on its first or last leaf, the name and address of its printer and publisher.

While Wawasan Merdeka contains the names of its publisher and printer, it does not specify their addresses.

"The ministry's enforcement officers have every reason to confiscate Wawasan Merdeka ," said Lutfi.

"What is more amazing is that it was freely distributed to non-members two days ago. This is clearly another violation of the PPPA for party publications."

The newly launched party organ's third edition was widely distributed in Port Dickson last Tuesday during the nominations for the upcoming Teluk Kemang by-election.

Lufti's Detik was banned in March this year after its permit was suspended for three months. The ministry, however, failed to give any written reasons for the ban.

Prior to the ban, the publication received a show-cause letter from the Home Ministry to explain why its permit should not be withdrawn.

The ministry claimed that Detik had committed three offences, that is, it had not printed the publisher's address on the magazine, had placed the publishing permit under another publisher without the ministry's consent and had appointed Lutfi as its editor-in-chief without informing the ministry.

The ministry also issued a show-cause letter to its sister publication, al-Wasilah , for "having used another person's publishing permit."

"Just one month after its publication, al-Wasilah received a show-cause letter from the ministry requiring it to state why it shouldn't be banned," said Lufti.

He added that the monthly youth-orientated magazine's permit may not be renewed when it expires in August.

"My political book entitled 'Anwar Ibrahim: Skandal Seks atau Konspirasi Politik?' (Anwar Ibrahim: Sex Scandal or Political Conspiracy?), was also confiscated because it did not have the printer's name on it," Lutfi said.

"But do you know that 'Getek', a book written by former home minister (Megat Junid Megat Ayob) did not have its publisher's name and address?," asked Lutfi.

"Worse still, Terengganu Umno, under its liaison chief Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also Home Minister, published a tabloid newspaper recently, Al-Haq , when it did not have its own publishing permit."

According to Lutfi, despite it having printed a publishing permit number on its front page, Al-Haq used the publishing permit of another person.

He added that in its last issue, the tabloid only stated that it was published by Badan Perhubungan Umno Terrengganu. It did not have the address and name of the printer.

"The Home Ministry can easily ban the person's permit if Al-Haq is using it, as it is a serious offence under the Act. That was exactly the allegation made against Detik !" said Lutfi.

The Home Ministry in December last year also curbed PAS-owned newspaper Harakah's circulation by restricting sales to PAS members only and confiscated copies sold by news vendors soon after the last general elections.

Its publishing frequency was also slashed from eight to two issues per month when its permit was renewed in March this year.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry's publications control unit, when contacted today, refused to comment.

"I cannot comment because I have not seen such a newspaper ( Wawasan Merdeka ) yet. Furthermore, our stand is that government officers are not allowed to release any statements to the press unless we have the green light from the top management," the ministry's assistant secretary Abdul Ghafar Abdullah told malaysiakini this morning.

However, efforts to reach the unit's assistant chief secretary, Tengku Mahmood Tengku Ismail, were unsuccessful. When contacted, his secretary said that Tengku Mahmood was away on a course.