Malaysian court lifts suspension of 2 newspapers critical of controversial state fund 1MDB
The Kuala Lumpur High Court has ruled the Malaysian government’s three-month suspension order against two business dailies, which have reported extensively on the graft scandals behind state investment fund 1MDB, as illegal.
The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily, which are under the stable of the Edge Media Group, had sued the home ministry over the suspension order which took effect on July 27. Media and rights groups had slammed the government over what they see as an increasingly intolerant stance against dissent in the face of mounting pressure over the 1MDB imbroglio.
“I am satisfied that the decision of the respondent in this case is tainted with illegality,” Judge Asmabi Mohamad said Monday, and ordered the ministry to pay costs of 15,000 ringgit ($3,483) to the publisher with damage awards to be assessed at a later date.
Among her reasons for the ruling was that the show cause letter issued by the ministry on June 29 to the publisher made a “blanket allegation” without specifying which articles were allegedly undesirable.
She said The Edge was put in a “difficult position” as it had published some 300 articles on 1MDB since 2009, the year the fund was established, and thus could not respond specifically to the show cause letter.
In its letter to the publisher on July 24, giving notice about the suspension, the home ministry had stated that its reporting on the 1MDB issues was “prejudicial or likely to be prejudicial to public order, security or likely to alarm public opinion or is likely to be prejudicial to public and national interest.”
1MDB or 1Malaysia Development Berhad, that was the brainchild of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who also heads its advisory board, has been embroiled in controversy since its inception.
Its opaque dealings and overpriced investments over the years have seen it accumulating a massive debt of $11 billion that it has struggled to repay.
The Edge newspapers gave the most in-depth and extensive coverage on the issue over the years.
Online news daily, the Malaysian Insider, quoted lawyer for The Edge, Darryl Goon, as saying that the publisher would restart publication of the two newspapers immediately, while the lawyer representing the home ministry, Alice Loke Yee Ching, said she has yet to receive instruction from her client whether to file an appeal against the High Court’s decision.
Besides The Edge, the government has blocked the whistle-blowing website Sarawak Report for publishing “unsubstantiated” information, according to the government’s Internet regulator.
It too had run articles accusing 1MDB of misappropriating hundreds of millions of dollars, but its most damning articles were published on July 3, detailing an alleged $700 million that flowed from 1MDB-linked companies into Najib’s personal bank accounts.
The same day, a similar story appeared in the Wall Street Journal that raised a political storm in the country, as Najib came under scrutiny. Najib has denied any wrongdoings and claimed the money was a political donation from an undisclosed Middle Eastern source.
Meanwhile, as pressure grew, Najib demonstrated that he allows no dissent after silencing the media, and on July 28 he replaced the attorney general who was heading a task force probing the so-called “donation” and fired his vocal deputy for speaking against 1MDB. The task force has since been disbanded.
The crackdown led to a massive protest last month that saw tens of thousands of Malaysians taking to the street to demand Najib’s resignation.
