The High Court today ordered that Raja Petra Kamarudin, editor of the popular news portal Malaysia Today, be released from detention after ruling that his arrest for allegedly causing racial tensions was unlawful.

High Court Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad ruled that the Home Minister acted outside his powers in having Raja Petra arrested on Sept 12, said the blogger’s lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar.

He quoted the judge as saying the grounds given for Raja Petra’s detention were insufficient and that his arrest under the Internal Security Act was unlawful.

The ISA allows the government to detain anyone for an initial two-year period without charges, and to extend the detention indefinitely.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 6% [?]

Technorati Tags: court order, internal security act, isa, malaysia today, raja petra

The attacks over the Internet on Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak continue to mount.

Just days after allegations surfaced on jailed blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin’s website Malaysia Today over alleged interference in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder investigations, more claims have surfaced on the same website over allegedly shady defence deals.

In the latest posting entitled “Eurocopter”, a letter purportedly from Datuk Zahar Hashim, the chairman of Mentari Services Sdn Bhd, the local representatives for a Russian helicopter company, alleges irregularities in the recent award to Eurocopter for the supply of 12 new aircraft to replace the ageing Nuri fleet of the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11% [?]

Technorati Tags: altantuya shaaribuu, eurocopter, malaysia today, najib tun razak, sms, text message

Malaysia on Thursday defended blocking access to a prominent political website that has attacked top leaders, saying it had ignored warnings against publishing “slanderous” articles.

Malaysia’s media is tightly controlled by the government, and it has expressed frustration over its inability to rein in Internet news portals which have become popular alternative news sources.

The Star newspaper said the government-backed communications watchdog had ordered all 21 Internet providers in the country to block the Malaysia Today website, whose founder has already been charged with sedition.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10% [?]

Technorati Tags: internet, malaysia today, raja petra, sedition act

A Malaysian high court has ordered a prominent political blogger to reveal his sources used in articles that alleged sodomy accusations against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim were fabricated, a lawyer said Thursday.

Online commentator Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin had in three articles posted on his blog implied that lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah was behind the sodomy accusations by Anwar’s 23-year-old aide.

Muhammad Shafee told The Associated Press he obtained the court order Wednesday against Raja Petra, ordering him to reveal the sources of the three articles published this month, and the identities of those who commented on them.

The court also ordered him to remove the articles and all comments within two days and refrain from publishing similar allegations, Muhammad Shafee said.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 4% [?]

Technorati Tags: court order, malaysia today, muhammad shafee, raja petra, sodomy

Raja Petra in his blog Malaysia Today has published an article about a doctor’s report from Hospital Pusrawi that has conducted an examination on Saiful. The report said that there is no evidence Saiful has been sodomised.

Below is the article Doctor on the run: police want him to fabricate evidence against Anwar written by Raja Petra and a copy of Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid from the Hospital Pusrawi medical report on Saiful Bukhari.

On 21 July 2008, I published an article in this same column called HOW, YET AGAIN, THEY ARE TRYING TO FABRICATE EVIDENCE AGAINST ANWAR.

In that article I mentioned as follows:

You see, they asked a certain doctor from a certain hospital to conduct an examination on Saiful. The doctor did so and he came out with a report that said there is no evidence Anwar had ever penetrated or sodomised the young man. The police then picked up the doctor and detained him for three days. As much as they tried to force him to change his report to implicate Anwar he refused to do so.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 16% [?]

Technorati Tags: anwar, anwar ibrahim, hospital, malaysia today, medical report, pusrawi, raja petra, saiful bukhari