(AP) The editor of Malaysia's best-known anti-government news portal went on trial Monday for sedition for allegedly implying the deputy prime minister was involved in the murder of a young Mongolian woman.
Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin, who denies the allegation, is already in jail in a separate case under the Internal Security Act, a law that allows indefinite detention without trial.
The two cases against Raja Petra, who runs the popular Malaysia Today news site on his blog, have provoked an outcry against the government, with detractors accusing it of misusing the judiciary to crack down on critics and suppress freedom of speech.
"They are penalizing him twice ... It's double jeopardy. But his spirits are up," said Raja Petra's wife, Marina, at a district court where the frail-looking activist, wearing flip-flops and sporting stubble, was brought in handcuffs in a police van for the trial.
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