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Alert

Newspaper issues apology following government threat

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The following is a statement from the Centre for Independent Journalism, SEAPA's local partner in Malaysia:

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) wishes to express deep concern and dismay that the "New Straits Times" (NST), one of the region's oldest and most well-established newspapers, was issued a show-cause letter from the Internal Security Ministry on 22 February 2006.

This turn of events was the latest in a recent spate of actions taken against the Malaysian media for the publishing of allegedly subversive material; since the beginning of this year, "Oriental Daily News", "China Press", "Sarawak Tribune" and "Guang Ming Daily" - all newspapers - have come under similar pressure.

The "New Straits Times" received the show-cause letter because of a Non Sequitur cartoon by Wiley Miller, which it published in its Life & Times section on 20 February. The cartoon dealt with the controversy surrounding the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad which were first published in a Danish newspaper in 2005.

The Internal Security Ministry said that the cartoon breached the conditions of the daily's publishing permit under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, and could invite negative reactions in the country.

NST reprinted the Non Sequiter cartoon - showing a street artist sitting on a chair beside a sign reading "Caricatures of Muhammad While You Wait!" and a boxed caption reading "Kevin finally achieves his goal to be the most feared man in the world" - on 23 February alongside an editorial asking the public and the government to judge whether it was really offensive. The newspaper was given three days to show in writing why action should not be taken against it for publishing the cartoon.

On the morning of 24 February, NST printed a front-page apology for the publishing of the cartoon and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who also serves as the Internal Security Minister, was quoted in another article as saying that the government had accepted the apology. He also said that, "They have expressed regret to those who were offended and it should be left at that."

Despite no action being taken again NST, the Centre for Independent Journalism remains disturbed by the incident, and the continuing implications recent related events will have on media freedom in Malaysia.

A free press is the cornerstone of any functioning democracy, and the amount of government interference, particularly of late, in the Malaysian media is a clear indication of the country's declining standards of democracy. In a democratic society, the free press plays an important role in monitoring the behaviour of the government in order to prevent any abuse of power. The government has no place interfering with the press and upsetting this system of checks and balances.

To this end, the Centre for Independent Journalism calls on the authorities to bring all pending investigations or suspensions of media outlets to a favourable conclusion that does not harm media freedom. We also call upon the Malaysian government to conduct an investigation into its own abuse of the Printing Presses and Publications Act and to repeal its licensing terms, which presently demand annual renewal, approved or withdrawn at the discretion of the Prime Minister.