KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — The Home Ministry has denied that The Heat weekly was suspended over a report on the “big-spending” nature of the prime minister.
Instead, it insisted the freeze on the publication was due to violations of provisions contained within its printing permit.
“This decision was not linked to The Heat’s recent story regarding the prime minister, and any accusations to the contrary are without merit,” a Home Ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal.
It is unclear if the official had identified the provisions said to have been breached, as these were not listed in the US newspaper’s article.
The Heat was suspended by the Home Ministry on Thursday.
In a three-paragraph statement posted today on its website, the weekly said it had ceased publication in compliance with a suspension order served on it by the ministry.
“The newsweekly will not be published on December 21 as scheduled,” it said, and added that its subscribers will be compensated accordingly.
The tabloid-sized paper that started its run earlier year is published by Petaling Jaya-based HCK Media Group.
Previous media reports alleged that the weekly ran into trouble over a report titled ““All eyes on big-spending PM Najib”, published for the week of November 23-29.
Home Ministry officials previously refused, however, to comment on the suspension or its reasons.
