Home Ministry issues show cause letter to ‘The Star’

PETALING JAYA: The Home Ministry has issued The Star a show cause letter over the newspaper’s front page report and layout on Saturday.

The Star has been given seven days to respond to the letter, stating why further action, including a suspension, should not be taken against it under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984. The reply is currently being drafted,

Four senior editors of The Star went to Putrajaya yesterday for a meeting with the ministry’s officials over the matter.

They were specialist editor M. Shanmugam and executive editors Dorairaj Nadason, Rozaid Abdul Rahman and Brian Martin.

Editor-in-chief Datuk Leanne Goh was unable to attend as she had left for the United States on Friday on a pre-planned vacation.

The Home Ministry issued a statement later yesterday, saying that it was disappointed with the heading on the front page and the accompanying photograph which was unrelated.

It said that having the heading and the photograph on the same page was confusing and could lead to misunderstanding and prejudice against Muslims which may be linked to terrorism.

“This has also inadvertently ridiculed Islam.

“The ministry reminds all newspapers to jointly ensure that the contents of the publications do not contain elements that are sensitive and detrimental to public order,” it said.

The Star has issued an apology via its online news portal and Twitter on Sunday.

Yesterday morning, another apology was issued in the print version.