Raja Petra Kamaruddin freed from jail
p2pnet news view | Freedom:- “TODAY: Friday 7 November – RPK to be FREED by 4pm at Shah Alam High Court,” says a post on Malaysia Today. “Directions HERE.”
And then, “TONIGHT: Seremban Candlelight Vigil 8 pm Friday Nov 7 @ Dataran Seremban Park. Details HERE.”
Malaysia Today founder and blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin was jailed in October on charges of sedition, “just as he’d predicted,” p2pnet posted.
He was ordered to surrender himself to police for, “allegedly implying the deputy prime minister was involved in the sensational killing of a young Mongolian woman,” said the Straits Times .
“Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin, who has not denied that he linked Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak to the slayings, pleaded innocent to the charge, telling reporters later that he should have the right to hold the powerful accountable for wrongdoing,” said the post, going on Raja Petra told his wife and, “Dozens of opposition members and bloggers,” he’d, ” be out for Christmas.”.
Prosecutors said the article implied deputy prime minister Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansoor, “were involved in the 2006 killing in Malaysia of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a 28-year-old Mongolian interpreter,” said the story.
Born in England, “Raja Petra, one of the most vocal critics of the current government, was detained for comments posted on his Web site that the government said insulted Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad,”" says the New York Times, adding:
“He was also accused of posting articles that defamed the country’s leaders and incited hatred against the government.”
However, in a decision which strikes a blow for freedom of speech in the country, the court ruled these were not sufficient grounds for detention under the Internal Security Act, says the story.
“The government can appeal the decision but the judge, Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad, ordered that Mr. Raja Petra be released without delay.
Prominent Malaysian human rights lawyer Tommy Thomas estimates more than 20,000 people have been detained under the act for, “diverse reasons which have nothing to do with communist subversion,” adds the NYT.
p2pnet -Blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin jailed, May 6, 2008
Straits Times – M’sian blogger jailed over article allegedly implicating deputy PM in killing, May 6, 2008
New York Times – Malaysian Court Frees Blogger, November 7, 2008
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