Body 2 Body: Home Ministry needs a closer look

The Home Ministry's Publications Control and Quranic Text secretary Zaitun Ab Samad said that the books entitled Body 2 Body, published by Amir Muhammad, have not been seized, rather only taken to undergo scrutiny.

The ministry's officials hadtaken away three copies of the book chronicling the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transgender (LGBTs) community in Malaysia, from the Kinokuniya book retail outlet in Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

"A seizure is only when the publication had gone against the Printing Presses and Publications Act. Then we will issue a seize order," she explained.

Asked to explain why the ministry's seizure notice (below) to the bookstore carried the word 'rampas' (seized), she insisted that was not the case.

"If a book had violated the terms in the act, a seizure order will be issued. Thereafter, the ministry will gazette that the publication is banned.

"The ministry will also issue a media statement to inform the public that the book is banned and that the public should not possess it," she stressed.

The ministry had taken the books to conduct further studies to determine if it had breached any restrictions in the act, she said.

Zaitun claimed that the ministry had taken action upon receiving information from public that the book's content could be 'morally detrimental'.

"This book could be restricted under Section 7 of the Act, if it is classified as an undesirable publication," she added.

Meanwhile, Zaitun toldMalaysiakini that the ministry is not responsible for any seizure of the book 'The March to Putrajaya' by columnist Kim Quek.

"Perhaps the police took those books, but not us," she said.

courtesy of Malaysiakini