The Edge permits suspended as reports contained 'certain motives' - Wan Junaidi

He said the government had never prevented any publication in disseminating information to the general public.

However, he said the government has no choice if the publication is seen to have certain motives in spreading the news.

"The ministry is authorized to suspend it temporarily. We have already provided an opportunity for them, but the explanation given was not satisfactory," he said when contacted by Astro AWANI.

According to Wan Junaidi, ministry officials have reviewed all the reports published by The Edge newspaper before proceeding with the suspension which begins on Monday.

The Home Ministry had suspended the publishing permit of The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily for three months beginning July 27.

In a statement today, The Edge said the ministry cited the publications' reporting on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) issues as "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 ministry also warned The Edge that failure to cease publication for three months will result in the withdrawal of its publishing permits, the KDN letter said.

Meanwhile, The Edge Media Group publisher and CEO Ho Kay Tat expressed disappointment with the decision.

"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.

“This is nothing more than a move to shut us down in order to shut us up,” he said.

Ho added that The Edge will go to court and try and get the suspension lifted.