Raja Petra: Your postings can land me in jail

Raja Petra: Your postings can land me in jail

Jul 26, 07 12:36pm

Popular blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, 57, who is being investigated for insulting the King and Islam, has urged his readers to be responsible when posting comments on his website.

"The bottom line is, what you post in the comments section may get me sent to jail under the Sedition Act," he wrote in his political blog, Malaysia Today.

The Sedition Act is notoriously broad and vague in its references to sedition and leaves undefined such subjective terms as "hatred" and "discontent." Offences under the act are punishable by up to three years in prison and fines. [See FAQ on Sedition Act]

Yesterday, Raja Petra was summoned to the Dang Wangi police station in response to a report lodged on Monday by Umno information chief Muhammad Muhammad Taib. He was released after eight hours of questioning.

After emerging from the police station last night, Raja Petra accused Umno of setting up a special team of 'cybertroopers' under Sports and Youth Minister Azalina Othman Said to post seditious comments on his website.

"There are about 25 of them, paid RM2,750 a month to raid and invade malaysia-today.net. They flood my website with about 500 to 600 unwanted and sensitive comments daily and I lose sleep every night cleaning this mess up by deleting them from my site," he said.

While those posting comments must first register with Malaysia Today, Raja Petra conceded that it was difficult for him to police all the postings.

"We have 20,000 news items and five million comments from bloggers coming from 146 countries," he said since Malaysia Today when live three years ago.

Grave concern

In a related development, New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed its grave concern over the police interrogation of Raja Petra.

"We call upon the Malaysian authorities to immediately cease harassment of Internet journalist Raja Petra Kamarudin," said Joel Simon, CPJ's executive director.

"Any new laws tailored to censor the Internet would represent a significant step backward for press freedom in Malaysia."

In recent months, the government has gone on an offensive against the bloggers ahead of a general election to be called soon.

On Tuesday, de facto law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz warned that bloggers and Internet writers are subject to existing laws, including the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial.

Critics say that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government seemed bent on cracking down on Internet writers who post material critical of his government.

Last week, Nathaniel Tan, a blogger and political aide to opposition politician Anwar Ibrahim, was detained by police for four days in relation to comments posted on his website by a reader linking a deputy minister to corruption.

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Raja Petra: Your postings can land me in jail
Jul 26, 07 12:36pm

Popular blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, 57, who is being investigated
for insulting the King and Islam, has urged his readers to be
responsible when posting comments on his website.

"The bottom line is, what you post in the comments section may get me
sent to jail under the Sedition Act," he wrote in his political blog,
Malaysia Today.

The Sedition Act is notoriously broad and vague in its references to
sedition and leaves undefined such subjective terms as "hatred" and
"discontent." Offences under the act are punishable by up to three
years in prison and fines. [See FAQ on Sedition Act]

Yesterday, Raja Petra was summoned to the Dang Wangi police station
in response to a report lodged on Monday by Umno information chief
Muhammad Muhammad Taib. He was released after eight hours of
questioning.

After emerging from the police station last night, Raja Petra accused
Umno of setting up a special team of 'cybertroopers' under Sports and
Youth Minister Azalina Othman Said to post seditious comments on his
website.

"There are about 25 of them, paid RM2,750 a month to raid and invade
malaysia-today.net. They flood my website with about 500 to 600
unwanted and sensitive comments daily and I lose sleep every night
cleaning this mess up by deleting them from my site," he said.

While those posting comments must first register with Malaysia Today,
Raja Petra conceded that it was difficult for him to police all the
postings.

"We have 20,000 news items and five million comments from bloggers
coming from 146 countries," he said since Malaysia Today when live
three years ago.

Grave concern

In a related development, New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ) expressed its grave concern over the police
interrogation of Raja Petra.

"We call upon the Malaysian authorities to immediately cease
harassment of Internet journalist Raja Petra Kamarudin," said Joel
Simon, CPJ's executive director.

"Any new laws tailored to censor the Internet would represent a
significant step backward for press freedom in Malaysia."

In recent months, the government has gone on an offensive against the
bloggers ahead of a general election to be called soon.

On Tuesday, de facto law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz warned that
bloggers and Internet writers are subject to existing laws, including
the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial.

Critics say that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government
seemed bent on cracking down on Internet writers who post material
critical of his government.

Last week, Nathaniel Tan, a blogger and political aide to opposition
politician Anwar Ibrahim, was detained by police for four days in
relation to comments posted on his website by a reader linking a
deputy minister to corruption.

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