September 23, 2008
MALAYSIA'S leading blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin has been ordered to spend two years in detention under internal security laws after being accused of insulting Islam, his wife said today.
Raja Petra, founder of the controversial Malaysia Today website, has been sent to the Kamunting detention centre in northern Perak state after the home minister signed the order late yesterday, Marina Lee Abdullah told AFP.
"(Police) said my husband has been sent to Kamunting this morning and that he will remain there for two years with no trial. This is the worst news I can receive but we will keep fighting for his release," she said.
Raja Petra's lawyers will push for his release in a court hearing but Marina said the detention order under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) had "thrown a spanner'' in the plans.
"This is dirty foul play by the government as they know that we are in the process of fighting for his release in the court but I was expecting this,'' she said.
According to Marina, Raja Petra was detained for allegedly "insulting Islam and publishing articles on his website which has tarnished the country's leadership to the point of causing confusion among the people''.
He was also accused of inciting hate in his articles on Islam -- a serious offence in predominantly Muslim Malaysia.
Raja Petra is best known for his articles on politics, and had already been charged with sedition and defamation for linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife to the sensational murder of a Mongolian woman.
MALAYSIA'S leading blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin has been ordered to spend two years in detention under internal security laws after being accused of insulting Islam, his wife said today.
Raja Petra, founder of the controversial Malaysia Today website, has been sent to the Kamunting detention centre in northern Perak state after the home minister signed the order late yesterday, Marina Lee Abdullah told AFP.
"(Police) said my husband has been sent to Kamunting this morning and that he will remain there for two years with no trial. This is the worst news I can receive but we will keep fighting for his release," she said.
Raja Petra's lawyers will push for his release in a court hearing but Marina said the detention order under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) had "thrown a spanner'' in the plans.
"This is dirty foul play by the government as they know that we are in the process of fighting for his release in the court but I was expecting this,'' she said.
According to Marina, Raja Petra was detained for allegedly "insulting Islam and publishing articles on his website which has tarnished the country's leadership to the point of causing confusion among the people''.
He was also accused of inciting hate in his articles on Islam -- a serious offence in predominantly Muslim Malaysia.
Raja Petra is best known for his articles on politics, and had already been charged with sedition and defamation for linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife to the sensational murder of a Mongolian woman.
Source: The Australian
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