KUALA LUMPUR , July 25 — The Edge Media Group has no other option but to mount a legal challenge against the three-month suspension on the printing permits of two of its publications, veteran journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin has said, amid outrage over what has been described as the start of an alleged media clampdown by Putrajaya.

Kadir, who at one time was New Straits Times group chief editor, acknowledged that it is “normal” for a publication to be suspended but stressed that the onus falls on the federal government to justify its action.

“The suspension is something normal… this is not the first time it is happening. But what remains a questions is whether there is any strong basis for the move or if it’s a sheer knee-jerk reaction,” he said on the sidelines of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s 90th birthday celebrations here last night.

“We are forced to look into the nature of the reaction. If I am not mistaken, The Edge has vowed to challenge the suspension in court. This is the only recourse for us, the final one.

“It’s for everybody (in the media industry) and not just The Edge. If The Edge proceeds with what they say they want to do, then it is going to be an interesting case to watch,” Kadir added.

Earlier yesterday, The Edge Media Group’s publisher and group chief executive Ho Kay Tat said they will apply on Monday for a judicial review of the Home Ministry’s decision to slap a three-month suspension order on two of its newspapers, The Edge Financial Daily and The Edge Weekly, over reports on troubled state-owned firm 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

“We will go to court on Monday to challenge the suspension, to seek judicial review (and) hope to get urgent hearing,” Ho told reporters after a town hall meeting with the group’s staff.

Ho earlier said The Edge was sticking by its reports on 1MDB, and will not apologise as none of its articles have been contested.

In a news release yesterday, Ho announced that the printing permits of the two publications will be suspended for three months starting Monday, with the possibility that the permits will be revoked if they do not comply.

Citing a Home Ministry letter, he said the ministry stated that the two publications’ reporting of 1MDB were “prejudicial or likely to be prejudicial to public order, security or likely to alarm public opinion or is likely to be prejudicial to public and national interest”.

Ho however said that The Edge will continue writing about 1MDB and use its online arms to publish the contents.