By FMT StaffKUALA LUMPUR: PAS has denounced recent attempts to intimidate the opposition media, saying they proved that the Najib administration was an enemy of free speech.
The party’s information chief Idris Ahmad said it had become evident that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had no respect for freedom of information. He cited recent attempts to gag PKR’s Suara Keadilan, PAS’s Harakah and DAP’s Roket.
“They have suspended Suara Keadilan, declared Harakah an illegal publication and are closely monitoring Roket,” he said.
Yesterday, officials from the Home Ministry went to the Angkatan Edaran factory to monitor the printing of Harakah.
They also searched the premises for copies of Era Keadilan, which they said was an illegal publication of PKR.
On July 2, the government suspended Suara Keadilan’s permit over a report critical of the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), an organisation that is said to have become intimately connected to Najib.
Idris said the party organs were the only sources of alternative information to a large section of the public, especially members of the Pakatan coalition.
He accused the government of abusing public resources to further Barisan Nasional’s political agenda, such as in the recent demonstration outside the Suara Keadilan office.
Noting that the pro-BN mainstream media had been free of government intimidation, he challenged the Home Ministry to issue clear guidelines on what it considers news and what it considers threats to security and harmony.
He urged Putrajaya not to ignore the anger that some Malaysians felt over the communal slant of some pro-BN newspapers.
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