Friday, September 12, 2008

Blogger arrested for 'inciting hate about Islam'

Blogger arrested for 'inciting hate about Islam'
12 Sept, 2008

Prominent Malaysian blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who has targeted government figures on his website, has been arrested under internal security laws, his wife says.

Raja Petra, founder of the controversial Malaysia Today website, has already been charged with sedition and defamation after linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife to the sensational murder of a Mongolian woman.

The blogger's wife Marina Lee Abdullah said today he was arrested by police at his home under legislation that allows for detention without trial.

"They came here and arrested him under the Internal Security Act for inciting hate in his articles on Islam," she told AFP.

A Home Ministry official said he was not immediately able to comment on the case.

The Internal Security Act, which human rights groups have pushed to have abolished, provides for renewable two-year periods of detention without trial and is normally used against suspected terrorists.

It has also been used to lock up opponents of the government, and last year five Hindu rights activists were detained after mounting an anti-discrimination protest that targeted government race policies.

Abdul Razak Baginda, a close friend of the deputy premier, has been charged with abetting the murder of 28-year-old Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu, whose body was blown up with explosives.

Two police officers from an elite force, whose duties included guarding the prime minister and his deputy, were also charged with the killing.

- The Age, Australia

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