Malaysian blogger jailed for two years under security law

Sep 23, 2008, 6:44 GMT

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia has jailed a popular anti-government internet blogger for two years under a draconian security law that can keep him detained indefinitely without a trial, a news report said Tuesday.

Raja Petra Kamarudin, who is known for his sensational online articles targeting top government leaders, was served with an order Monday night that would see him detained in for two years under the Internal Security Act (ISA), the Star daily said.

Raja Petra, who runs the popular Malaysia Today news website, was arrested September 12 by order of Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar, the Star said.

The minister said some of Raja Petra's articles were deemed a threat to national security and offensive to Islam, the official religion of the country.

Raja Petra has in the past been accused by the government of spreading lies and false rumours in his articles.

He was charged with sedition in May for allegedly implying that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak was involved in the gruesome murder of a Mongolian woman.

Under the ISA, the government can extend his two-year detention period indefinitely.

Raja Petra will be held at the Kamunting Detention Center in the northern state of Perak. The center currently holds other detainees under the security law, mostly suspected Islamic extremists.

Police also detained an opposition lawmaker and a journalist on September 12, shortly after Raja Petra was arrested. The government has since released the two.

The ISA was originally drafted almost 60 years ago during British colonial rule to fight a communist insurgency.

Critics of the law claim it is being used to crackdown on dissent and have repeatedly called for it to be abolished, but the government maintains it is needed to safeguard against terrorism and to ensure national security.