Source: Associated Press
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's government ordered a Tamil-language daily to immediately halt publication for a month Friday as punishment for printing an image of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette, an official with the newspaper said.
S.M. Periasamy, general manager of Makkal Osai, which caters to Malaysia's ethnic Indian minority, said his office received the directive by fax from the Internal Security Ministry.
"Of course we are shocked by this. My entire staff are all in tears. They will lose a month of income," Periasamy said, adding that the newspaper would abide by the order but plans to appeal the suspension.
On Thursday, Periasamy said a graphic artist — who has since been suspended — downloaded a picture of Jesus from the Internet for use along with a quote from the Bible on the paper's front page on Tuesday. But the artist overlooked the fact that the picture had been altered to insert a cigarette in one hand and another object — a can or a book — in the other, he said.
The Malaysian Indian Congress, a party in Malaysia's ruling coalition, had called on the government to close the paper, which is generally critical of the MIC.
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