'Mass lay-off a warning to journalists'

'Mass lay-off a warning to journalists'

MALAYSIA: Rights groups on Tuesday voiced concern that the mass lay-off of some 40 staff by The Sun newspaper could be a warning to journalists to toe the line.

The English-language daily, which hit the streets in early 1994 and has a circulation of 70,000, on Friday laid off 41 journalists and editorial employees as well as a library staff.

It cited economic difficulties and a need to scale down manpower as its reason for the exercise.

But rights group Suaram said The Sun's move was "unlawful, unscrupulous and in bad faith".

It said this was a "clear calculated move of union busting" as all key office bearers of the local journalist union had been sacked and the human resources ministry was not notified.

The sackings followed government criticism of a front-page story published on Christmas Day claiming that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi were the targets of a murder plot. --AFP