Raja Petra turns to the written word

Raja Petra arriving in court yesterday in handcuffs.

By Hazlin Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Anti-government blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin went on trial yesterday, on sedition charges over an article he allegedly posted on his popular Malaysia Today website.

Raja Petra, 58, who is already detained without trial under the Internal Security Act for allegedly maligning Islam in a more recent posting, was charged with sedition in May this year after he allegedly implied that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was involved in the murder of a Mongolian interpreter in an article published in April entitled "Let's Send the Altantuya Murderers to Hell."

Raja Petra, or better known as RPK, arrived in court a good half-hour before proceedings started at 9am.

I almost did not recognise him; he looked a little frail and tired-looking, and he looked as if he had lost some weight, not to mention the fact that he was also sporting a beard now, after about three weeks of detention at Kamunting.

Dressed in jeans and flip-flops, he pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him.

Dozens of his supporters turned up outside the court, wearing red and black T-shirts with slogans such as "I'm with RPK" and "Free RPK".

Also seen were some opposition leaders, led by DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang.

Several supporters walked out during the proceedings, however, when it became a little too draggy and technical.

The first witness, an IT expert, was asked to explain details such as websites, URLs, domain names, blogs, wikipedia, and how they work. This technical aspect took up the entire day. Even judge Rozina Ayob expressed reservations over whether the trial could end by Friday, as prosecutors had hoped.

While the prosecution took its time to establish a prima facie case against the blogger, the defence immediately pointed out a possible hole in their case.

Defence lawyer J. Chandra told the court that a computer forensics report conducted by the police on a computer seized from RPK showed there was no activity to access the Malaysia Today website on April 25, the date he allegedly posted the seditious article on that same website. Government prosecutors will have to convince the judge that they have a case against him. Otherwise she has the option of acquitting him.

But if he is convicted of sedition, he faces up to three years' imprisonment. Government prosecutors say the hearing will continue at least until Friday and the court will then decide whether to call for the defence.

In any case, he is already sentenced to two years at the Kamunting detention centre for ISA detainees.

RPK told me that he spends his time reading books whilst currently undergoing three months' solitary confinement there.

Since his arrest on Sept 12, he has read nine books, including one written by former de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, who quit his post recently over the use of the ISA against RPK, an opposition lawmaker and a journalist last month.

RPK's wife Marina Lee Abdullah replenished his supply today with two more books — "Slovo The Unfinished Autobiography of ANC Leader Joe Slovo", about one of the key figures of anti-apartheid, as well as a copy of the Malaysian Constitution.

The copy was for him to study and think up ways to change the constitution when the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition takes over, he quipped.

"I dream of the day the government will be brought down and we abolish all draconian laws," he said.

For someone who has to live in a tiny cell that measures roughly three feet by three feet, he was rather cheerful and cracked jokes with his family and friends in court.

"If (opposition leader) Anwar Ibrahim doesn't form the government and I stay in (under ISA) for (the full sentence of) two years, I'll come back to haunt him. So he better make sure," he said when asked by reporters if the opposition would take over soon as it has threatened to.

RPK, who celebrated his 58th birthday behind bars on Sept 27, also declined to reveal what he was eating whilst in detention. When pressed by reporters, he insisted he was eating good food such as lamb chops, perhaps in reaction to controversial comments made by opposition MP Teresa Kok that she was fed food that was similar to dog food during her brief detention.

Before he was taken away after the proceedings, his wife and daughters tearfully hugged him in the courtroom, prompting supporters to clap as he left. — Straits Times Blog