Malaysian NGO journal faces printer obstacle

Malaysian NGO journal faces printer obstacle

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): A Malaysian rights group said on Tuesday it could not publish the latest issue of its magazine because printers had been pressured not to handle it.

Aliran, a non-governmental organization on economic and social issues, said the September issue had been ready for publication almost a month ago.

But the group, based in northern Penang state, said in a statement it had been unable to find a printer there who was prepared to print Aliran Monthly (AM).

The group said the annual printing contract was worth more than 100,000 ringgit (US$26,315) "yet many are reluctant to do business with us."

It added: "Simply put, our printers, one after another, were pressured to stop printing the AM. More than that, other Penang printers who we approached also informed us that they had been contacted by 'certain people' not to print the AM."

Aliran acknowledged it had no evidence of pressure tactics, saying printers were unwilling to go on record. But it said it had been forced to use four printers over the past seven months before the latest impasse.

Committee member Anil Netto told AFP the printers and the government would have had no way of knowing what was in the September issue. But he noted it was ready about the time when lawyers for sacked deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim were alleging a possible poisoning plot against him.

"This just came at a dicey time for the government," he said, acknowledging that there was no way of verifying this as the reason for the printing problems.

Netto said Aliran had faced printing problems all this year but the last time it had faced a major delay was during Operation Lalang in 1987 -- the detention of large numbers of people under internal security laws.

In its statement, Aliran called for the repeal of the Printing Presses and Publications Act under which printers and publications must be licensed.

It said the law discouraged honest journalism, stifled dissent and "retards the growth of a free and just society."