Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) – The situation of press freedom in Malaysia is not rosy, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), a non governmental media watchdog, said. The Centre's director, Sonia Randhawa, told AsiaNews that despite some progress noted in the latest report by Reporters Without Borders (RWB), things are not yet good.

Released on October 24, the RWB 2006 annual report placed Malaysia in 92nd position out of 168 countries, up from 113th position in 2005. But for Sonia Radhawa this jump should not be seen as a victory.

The CIJ director cited several instances in which the authorities curtailed not only press freedom but also freedom of expression in the arts, including books, stage dramas and movies.

She said early this year the Sarawak Tribune was taken to task for publishing the Prophet Muhammad cartoons and banned the publication even after an apology from the editors.

The Guangdong Daily, a Chinese-language newspaper, was temporarily suspended over the same cartoons even after an apology was issued. And another Chinese daily, The China Press, saw several of its editors suspended for highlighting police abuses in the country.    

On the other hand, she pointed out that another Chinese newspaper, The Oriental Daily, was allowed to be published without a printing license. It eventually got its license in May after it agreed to a government order to dismiss a number of its columnists.

Conversely, the application for a printing license by the country's most popular newspaper blog, Malaysiakini, has been in limbo since 2000.

"Beyond these, let us not forget the media blackout issued to all editors from publishing stories on the recent oil price hike, discussions on race and religion as well as publishing articles on the Malaysian Constitution," Sonia Randhawa said.

Apart from the clampdown on the mainstream media, government censorship includes cinema and literature. Feature films like Lelaki Komunis Terakhir (The Last Communist) and a number of other arts and stage performances have been banned for raising sensitive issues.

The government has also banned 33 books among them "The Battle for God", a comparative study of religion, and "How to Take Photos", deemed pornographic because of its nude art section.