‘Ban if you want, but don’t harass booksellers’

February 12, 2010

Two Kinibooks by Nathaniel Tan and Cartoonist ZUNAR seized and bookstores harassed

by Aidila Razak

Kinibooks, which had two of its books confiscated in a series of raids nationwide this year, has condemned the action and called for the halt of harassment against booksellers.

The publisher, a subsidiary of Malaysiakini, had 118 copies of its latest books, 1Funny Malaysia and Where is Justice, seized from bookstores in Malacca, Johor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan since Jan 7.

The seizures were made under Section 18 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, as the books were suspected to cause harm to public order, morality, public safety and international relations.

When contacted, the authorities told Malaysiakini that the books are not banned and that the seizure was to enable police officers to “analyse their contents”.

“If they wanted to review the books, they could have gotten them from us. We would be happy to give them a free copy each,” said Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan.

“We want the police and the Home Ministry officials to stop the harassment of booksellers across the country,” he said.

He added that Kinibooks is sending a legal letter to the Home Ministry demanding a reason for the seizure and that the books to be returned.

Stop using back door tactics

Echoing the sentiment was Where is Justice editor, Nathaniel Tan, who said that the ministry should “just do (the review) and make its decision quickly”.

“If you want to ban it, then do so, and we will challenge it in court. Instead they are using back-door tactics to stop the public from getting the books.

“The books are not very long and can be finished within one day. I would expect the officers at the Home Ministry to be able to do so,” he said. He, however, added that there was no legal reason to ban the book, as it was based on facts and this “will hold up in a court of law”.

1Funny Malaysia author Zulkiflee Anwar Haque (better known as Zunar) said that the action is stifling the already under-developed Malaysian political cartoon industry.

“A cartoonist’s role is to be a watchdog for the government (but) they are trying to instill a culture of fear and affect their work,” he said.

Zunar added that he refused to be cowed and that the seizures, along with that of his other publication, Gedung Kartun, have only strengthened his determination.

“I have received emails from readers from all walks of life telling me to keep going, and this is because cartoons reach out to people of all ages and backgrounds,” he said.

There’s a silver lining though, with Kinibooks boasting higher sales after the seizures begun due to the “free publicity”.

“We also have bookstores asking for more copies,” said Malaysiakini group business development manager See Tho Chee Seong. Some bookstores have, however, taken the books off the shelves and are only selling them upon request.

“This is not right… Stop being sneaky and underhanded. If (the government) is concerned about their dirty laundry being aired, then do something about the dirty laundry. Don’t harass the booksellers,” said Tan.

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