The Home Ministry's letter requiring English daily The Sun to explain the publication of a controversial report on Christmas did not warrant the suspension of the journalists concerned.

Spokesperson P Vijian ( left ) said that his newspaper's branch of the National Union of Journalists vehemently protest the company's decision to retract the news report about an alleged plot to kill the country's top two leaders.

They also object to the management's decision to issue an apology for the article.

"Besides, the Home Ministry secretary-general Aseh Che Mat said no show-cause letter was issued to the management, but only a letter asking for an explanation. If this is the case, then it does not warrant a suspension of our fellow journalists," he said in a statement.

On Dec 27, the paper published a front-page apology to the two leaders and declared the story baseless. Both leaders have since accepted the apology.

Following the apology, H'ng Hung Yong, the executive director and editor-in-chief of The Sun resigned, and the journalists credited with the report, R Manirajan and Anita Md Nasir, were suspended.

Chief news editor Robert Ho and managing editor Chong Cheng Hai were also suspended pending further investigations on the said article.

Editor Andy Ng handed in his resignation a day later and publicly stood by the news report.

He told the Malay Mail in an interview that The Sun had the story weeks before it was published and its reporters had verified the facts with a deputy minister and a deputy press secretary.

Vijian said the journalists appreciate the sacrifice made by Ng.

"We also express our appreciation to Ng for setting the record straight with a public explanation and upholding the time-honoured tradition of practising good journalistic ethics," he added.

About 40 Sun journalists picketed outside their headquarters in Petaling Jaya today to protest the suspension of their colleagues.

They also demanded for their bonuses promised to them.

'Apology needed'

Meanwhile, a source told malaysiakini that the management used the purported 'show-cause letter' from the Home Ministry to justify pressuring the top-level editorial executives into resigning and suspending the others.

Newly-appointed deputy chairperson VK Lingam insisted that the 'show-cause letter' led to the board of directors' decision - after consulting with several independent parties, including lawyers - that an immediate apology was necessary as a pre-emptive move, said the source who requested anonymity.

Lingam, who told this to the editorial staff in a meeting on Saturday to clear the air on the matter, said there was no need to wait for investigations by the police, board of directors or home ministry officials to be completed, the source added.

"He (Lingam) said the apology was to help prevent the paper from being suspended or shut down by the government, which he claimed some parties are trying to do," said the source.

However, secretary-general for the ministry Aseh was later reported to have said that there were no recommendations to suspend the daily for publishing the article.

Aseh said the ministry had sent a letter asking for an explanation on the story and not a show-cause letter.

The Sun ran into controversy when its Dec 25 front-page story quoted sources saying that an assassin had been hired to kill Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Mahathir denied that he had any knowledge of the alleged plot and claimed that the story will have adverse implications on the country's economy as it was picked up by the foreign media.

The Sun Media Corporation is owned by politically connected business tycoon Vincent Tan.

Lingam, who earned notoriety when media reports revealed that he was photographed holidaying with former chief justice Eusoff Chin in New Zealand in 1994, is part owner of the daily.