Raja Petra charged with sedition

Malaysiakini.com

May 6, 08 10:40am

Malaysia Today news portal webmaster Raja Petra Kamaruddin was today charged with sedition at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court over an article which he wrote in his website. The article allegedly implied that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife were involved in the killing of a young Mongolian woman. Raja Petra claimed trial to the charge. He was charged under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act for publishing seditious article on April 25 on Malaysia Today. If found guilty, Raja Petra could be jailed for a maximum of three years and/or face a fine of up to RM5,000. The chargesheet also highlighted nine paragraphs of the article which was titled ”Let’s send the Altantuya murderers to hell” as seditious. Deputy Public Prosecutor Nordin Hassan is prosecuting while Raja Petra was represented by a team of six lawyers led by Karpal Singh. Earlier this morning Raja Petra was asked to present himself at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court to face the sedition charge. He had been waiting to be charged at the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court when he received a telephone call from the police at about 10.20am asking him to go to the PJ court instead. Late yesterday the popular webmaster was ordered to surrender at the Jalan Duta court complex at 9.30am this morning to face a sedition charge. Talking to reporters at the Jalan Duta court complex this morning, Raja Petra said that he was a victim of political persecution. “I knew this was coming. They are going to find ways and excuses to charge me but these are stupid excuses,” he said. “Once they charge me, we will show that there is no evidence against me,” he added. He said that he was aware of a call made by an Umno leader from Petaling Jaya (Utara) about three weeks ago that “they should find ways to arrest me”. News about Raja Petra’s case spread like a wild fire last night and this morning a large crowd had gathered at the court complex to show support for him. Also present were DAP leaders Lim Kit Siang and Ronnie Liu as well as Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar. Last Friday, Raja Petra was called in by the police to have his statement recorded over an Internet posting two weeks ago pertaining to the murder case of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian national. On April 25, Raja Petra posted the article titled ‘Let’s send the Altantuya murderers to hell’ on his blog, Malaysia Today. The posting implicated Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor in the high-profile case. Najib subsequently issued a denial through his press secretary Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad, whereas Rosmah has also denied the allegations against her. The Altantunya murder trial is currently ongoing at the Shah Alam. [Full report to follow]

SEKALI LAGI MAJLIS PERBANDARAN KUANTAN MENGHAMPAKAN KAMI

Pada Sabtu, 10 Mei ini jam 3 ptg, Parti KeADILan Rakyat Bahagian Kuantan akan mengadakan program ANUGERAH SIJIL TAKAFUL kepada warga pengundi Kuantan yang dipilih sebagai layak menerima perlindungan tersebut. Seramai lebih kurang 200 orang telah disenaraipendekkan selaku golongan penerima yang pertama.

Namun permohonan kami untuk menggunakan kemudahan tapak letak kereta di Taman Kerang, Jalan Mahkota untuk program tersebut telah ditolak.

Sekali lagi pihak pengurusan MPK telah menghampakan kami.

Di kala kami di Parlimen berbahas dan berhujah supaya tidak ada diskriminasi terhadap pembangkang oleh pihak Kerajaan, insiden ini amat mengecewakan.

Harapan kami supaya Agensi yang seharusnya berkhidmat kepada rakyat terus bersikap profesional tanpa sebarang diskriminasi.

Fuziah Salleh

Ahli Parlimen Kuantan

Merangkap Ketua Bahagian Kuantan

6hb Mei 2008