Home Ministry suspends The Edge's publishing permits for three months

PETALING JAYA: The Home Ministry has suspended the publishing permit of The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily for three months from July 27.

The financial publication said in a statement Friday that they had received a letter from the Home Ministry because of their reporting on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The Edge said the letter from the Home 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".

The letter also said that the failure to stop publication for three months would result in the withdrawal of The Edge's publishing permits.

"We don't see how exposing the scam to cheat the people of Malaysia of billions of Ringgit can be construed as being detrimental to public and national interest," said The Edge Media Group publisher and CEO Ho Kay Tat.

"This is nothing more than a move to shut us down in order to shut us up," said Ho.

Ho said they would take the matter to court to get the suspension lifted.

The Edge Media Group's Malaysian operations have a staff count of around 350.