Activist group Jingga 13 has called on the Home Ministry to stop using the Printing Presses and Publications Act as an excuse to punish the media in Malaysia.

jingga 13 memo to home ministry 241213 02 Calling it a "drastic" move, the youth activists want the ministry to immediately lift the suspension it imposed on news weekly The Heat last week.

"Whatever the excuse given by the Home Ministry, it is still seen as a drastic punishment on The Heat," said Nikson Abdillah, the group's coordinator.

Nikson said the people and media practitioners have both been disturbed by the move, which Jingga 13 deemed “undemocratic and unprofessional”.

'Apologise to all media poractitioners'

Editors of The Heat said they met with Home Ministry officers yesterday on the weekly’s indefinite suspension and were told to expect a fair outcome .

NONE In a memorandum of protest addressed to Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Jingga 13 made the following demands:

  • Lift the suspension on The Heat immediately and let the paper resume normal operations;

 

  • Form an independent committee to investigate incidents of police violence against journalists and media during the Bersih 3.0 rally in 2012;

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  • Abolish permit requirements for publications and amend the Printing Presses and Publications Act to be in line with the rights of a free press; and

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  • Openly apologise to all media practitioners for all past violations against the media by the BN government