H. E. Yam Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir
Prime Minister of Malaysia
Prime Minister’s Office
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

Vienna, 3 December 1996

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives from newspapers, magazines, broadcasting organisations and news agencies in 90 countries, is deeply concerned about the continued boycott of the See Hua Group of newspapers by the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP).

In September 1996, in the wake of disappointing election results for the Party, a SUPP Central Working Committee issued a directive to its members to stop subscribing to and advertising in the newspapers owned by the Sibu-based See Hua Group of companies, i.e., The Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News. Furthermore representative of the aforementioned newspapers were barred from attending any SUPP functions and vendors were encouraged to stop selling the titles. The Secretary-General of SUPP, in an official statement, said that the boycott would not be lifted until such time as the persons responsible for the “biased and misleading” reporting of these publications were dismissed.

IPI is informed that the boycott is still in effect. We regard these continued actions not only as a blatant form of “scapegoatism” aimed at blaming the See Hua Group of Newspapers for SUPP’s loss of 3 seats and the defeat of SUPP President Tan Sri Dr. Wong Soon Kai, but also an attempt to silence the critical voice of the See Hua Group.

We therefore urge Your Excellency to immediately and unconditionally discontinue the boycott and withdraw the request that the See Hua Group replace their management. We further urge Your Excellency to ensure that the country’s independent media is allowed to operate without further harassment.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director