Malaysian Blogger detained

Prominent Malaysian blogger, Raja Petra Kamarudin @ RPK aka Pete, the editor of Malaysia Today, was today detained in custody by the Malaysian authorities after he refused to post bail of RM5,000-00 that was earlier set by the court.

RPK was earlier charged under the Sedition Act 4(1)(c) of the Malaysian Penal Code in the Sessions Court, Petaling Jaya just outside the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He was apparently charged for a recent  article of  9 paragraphs that he wrote in his blog.

His trial has been set for Oct 06 to Oct 10, 2008 and he is determined to be detained in prison till then.

He faces the possibility of up to three years' imprisonment or a fine of up to RM5,000-00 or both upon conviction.

Present with him at the court house were his wife, Marina, (who was taken aback that her husband would rather be detained than to post bail), fellow bloggers, politicians (amongst them newly elected in the recent General Election) and lawyers who are taking up his case to defend him.

Last night blogs were abuzzed with updates that RPK was ordered to surrender himself at 9.30 am at the court house and many had speculated that he would be charged for sedition.

Meanwhile, a campaign had already been started by bloggers appealing for an amount of RM 1 per person to be deposited into a bank account for his cause.
see article here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/7080/84/

UPDATE:

The appeal is now to STOP the contribution as the amount collected till 4:00pm Malaysian Time stands at:

From CIMB bank account : RM24,500.00
From Paypal account : $3,283.61 USD (net total, after deduction of fee charges by Paypal services)

Last Friday, May 02, 2008 seven police officers showed up early in the morning at his home and proceeded to confiscate his laptop and computer. He was asked to present himself at the police headquarters later that day to give his statement. Read what happened at this story: here

His buddy and fellow blogger, Zorro (Bernand Khoo) was with him there this morning. Read his eyewitness account at his blog here.

A local daily, The Sun, has the story here

See a copy of the compilation of RPK's 'seditious' article here