Newspaper scores coup with readers through Anwar's release

Rita Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Kuala Lumpur

Newspaper stands have been doing brisk business in Kuala Lumpur as Malaysians snap up news about Anwar Ibrahim, who was freed on Thursday when the Supreme Court acquitted him of a sodomy conviction.

The major English-language daily The Star, which has a daily circulation of more than 300,000, printed a special 16-page breaking news edition, which appeared on the street at 11 p.m. on Thursday.

It was a hit with readers by providing 20,000 complimentary copies.

The edition contained news of Anwar's release under the headline Anwar Freed, comments of former prime minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and elaborate chronology of charges against Anwar.

There was also a behind-the-scenes look at the verdict, and the backgrounds of the Panel of Judges who freed him.

Readers welcomed the edition, which was circulated in some of the city's most upmarket areas, such as Bukit Damansara, where Anwar and his family live.

A resident of Kuala Lumpur, Min Yeoh, said she was glad she could grab the paper at a hypermarket on her way home from the office.

"It is such important news for us and I am happy I could read it from the newspaper on the very same day," she said.

The Star's effort was one up on its rival New Straits Times, although it also presented extensive coverage of Anwar's release.

Editions of two leading Malay-language newspapers, Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia, disappeared from almost all newsstands as early as 6 a.m. on Friday. The combined circulation of the newspapers reaches more than 600,000 copies.

Hassan Abdullah, owner of a newsstand in Bukit Bintang, one of the busiest districts in the city, said that all types of newspapers in Malay, Mandarin, English and Tamil were all sold out early in the morning.

"It is rare ... we usually find it difficult to sell newspapers. We still have piles of newspapers until late at night, but today (Friday), they (the copies) were all gone," he said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Anwar's supporters as well as local and international journalists converged on his residence to see him before his departure for Munich, Germany, on Saturday afternoon for medical treatment.