PETALING JAYA, July 24 — The Edge Media Group will continue writing about 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and use its online arms to publish the content, its publisher said after a town hall meeting with employees following the suspension of two of its newspapers.
Ho Kay Tat, the publisher and Group CEO of The Edge Media Group, also said they were not intimidated by the Home Ministry’s ban on its newspaper and will not retract any of its reports.
“Of course we will continue to report on 1MDB. We have plenty to report on. For instance, about Bank Negara looking for two individuals,” he told reporters today.
“We will not apologise because we haven’t done anything wrong. We will stand by what we have published. None of the article have been challenged, no one has challenged,” he said.
Ho pointed out that The Edge Media Group has online news outlets in its stable, and is also studying the possibility of releasing the weekly version of the newspaper in digital format.
He then expressed disappointment with the Home Ministry’s decision to suspend the two newspapers and hoped the ministry will provide clear reasoning for the punishment to the public.
Earlier this afternoon, the publisher of The Edge Media Group announced that the Home Ministry has suspended the printing permits of its two flagship publications for three months starting next Monday, with a possible revocation of the licences if it does 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”.
Besides The Edge Financial Daily and The Edge Weekly, the media group also operates four online outlets.
