KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — The government should only decide on whether to suspend The Edge newspapers after the investigation on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is complete, graft watchdog Transparency-International Malaysia (TI-M) said today.

TI-M president Datuk Akhbar Satar also said the Home Ministry should take legal action, instead of suspending The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily for three months from tomorrow, if the government felt that the business publications had violated the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA), as it would allow the media organisation to defend its actions in court.

“Suspending a newspaper which reported on the 1MDB scandal is not going to help the government in any way,” Akhbar said in a statement.

“Since the 1MDB case is currently being investigated by the special taskforce, TI-M is of the view that it would be appropriate and fair that any decision against both The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily to be suspended should only be taken after the completion of the investigation and if found that there is a basis from the outcome of the investigation, so that their decision can be easily justified and to avoid any person from questioning the decision of suspension made by the Home Ministry,” he added.

The anti-corruption group said Putrajaya’s decision to suspend The Edge papers would affect Malaysia’s international standing, sovereign ratings, as well as international perception on the country’s press freedom.

Akhbar also criticised the government for blocking access to Sarawak Report, a London-based news blog that has been publishing exposés on state-owned fund 1MDB that is mired in billions in debt.

“All these unpleasant acts will lead to loss of confidence in this country and impact our economy negatively as seen by the free fall of ringgit.

Our government must not go for the ‘overkill’ in suppressing free speech on the pretext of acting against critics. Let’s get our facts right before we carry out more irrational measure(s),” he said.

The Edge Media Group said Friday that the Home Ministry had stated that The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily 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”.