Raja Petra Kamaruddin
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's leading blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin was served with an order to spend two years in detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA), Malaysian media said on Tuesday.
The detention order was signed by Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar on Monday night, said the New Straits Times.
His wife, Marina Lee Abdullah, told reporters that the blogger will be held without trial under Section 8 of the ISA.
"(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," his wife, Marina Lee Abdullah told AFP.
Raja Petra's lawyers will push for his release in a court hearing Tuesday but Marina said the detention order under the draconian 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.
He was detained under the ISA on September 12. Two others detained that day, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Choon Heng, have since been released.
AFP/CNA/yb
Channel NewsAsia
23/09/08
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