The Shah Alam High Court this morning ruled that the detention of well-known blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin under the ISA was illegal and ordered his immediate release.

Judge Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad said that Raja Petra’s detention was unconstitutional.

He said that the Home Minister had not followed the proper procedure under Section 8 of the ISA to issue the detention order against Raja Petra.

The judge also ordered that Raja Petra, editor of the popular ‘Malaysia Today’ website, be produced in court by 4pm today after which he should be immediately released.

Raja Petra is presently being held at the Kamunting detention centre in Perak.

The ruling by the court followed a habeas corpus application by Raja Petra’s counsel seeking his release from detention under the security law.

The blogger (left) was arrested on Sept 12 by police and held at an unknown location before he was sent to the Kamunting Detention Camp in Perak on Sept 23.

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar on Sept 22 had signed a detention order for him to be held under section 8(1) of the ISA. Under the Act, the initial two-year detention period without trial can be renewed indefinitely

Syed Hamid then told reporters that he was satisfied with the reasons given by the police for the blogger’s detention.

“The detention is due to Raja Petra’s articles that ridiculed Islam which could arouse anger among Muslims.

“The police had recommended his detention and after going through the papers, we are satisfied that there are strong grounds for him to be further detained for two years (in Kamunting),” he said.

According to his lawyer J Chandra, Raja Petra was arrested for publishing articles on his news portal which allegedly tarnished the leadership of the country and insulted the sanctity of Islam.

The former newspaper columnist had earlier been charged with sedition and defamation after linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife to the sensational murder of a Mongolian woman.

It was the second time that Raja Petra had been arrested under the ISA.

He was detained under the draconian law in 2001, at the height of the reformasi movement triggered by the sacking and jailing of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, who is now opposition leader.

However, he was released by the police after 53 days without being sent to Kamunting detention centre.

Directions To reach the Bangunan Sultan Salehuddin,

If you get on the Federal Highway, head towards Shah Alam ( after batu tiga toll) 2nd turn off (left). Take 3 o’clock at roundabout. straight, another round about (Bulatan Kayangan – can see the Shah Alam mosque right in front) take 12 o’clock. Then all the way straight – pass Concorde Hotel (on right), through the traffic lights, and straight on for about 100 m then turn left at Jalan Takbir or towards SUK building. If you miss this turn, drive on for another 100m and turn left at Persiaran Raja Muda (into Sec. 6) then take the first left into Persiaran Sultan.

Or, just look for the tallest building near the Shah Alam Mosque. That would be the SUK building which is where the State Govt is. The court is near it.

To get directly to the SUK building from the Federal Highway, take the 4th turn after the Batu Tiga Toll. (It says it is to Pusat Bandar Shah Alam, or it is the turn right after Pusat Perindustrian Shah Alam.) The road curves into Persiaran Sultan. Just follow this road right to the end.

Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) has filed a second habeas corpus application at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

His wife Marina Lee Abdullah said the legal team had submitted the application today.

“This application is totally different from the first one,” she said when contacted.

“Whereas the first detention order meant he would be detained for up to 60 days, the second said he can be detained in there for life.”

A writ of habeas corpus orders the authorities to produce detainees before a judge to determine whether the government has the right to continue holding them.

The first application filed on Sept 16 was against the popular blogger’s initial detention under Section 73(1) of the ISA, which allows the police to detain a person deemed to be prejudicial to national security for a maximum of 60 days for interrogation.

On the eve of the hearing on Sept 23, however, the Home Ministry signed another order – this time under Section 8 – before packing RPK (left) off the next day to the Kamunting detention camp in Perak.

Section 8 provides for a detention period of two years, renewable upon the minister’s discretion.

Public prosecutors, therefore, had then argued that the application had been rendered moot by the modified section under which Raja Petra was held.

Decision still pending

In his blog posted earlier today, Raja Petra’s lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar noted that the first application to review Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar’s detention order against Raja Petra under Section 73(1) is still pending.

“The judge has to make a decision whether to strike it out for being academic. As we see it, it is not, as the detention order issued by the minister was based on the recommendations of the police,” said Malik.

“The order issued by the minister flowing from the earlier detention by the police, we take the view that the validity of the earlier detention is of relevance to the question of whether RPK is currently being legitimately detained.”

The point will be further argued on Oct 28.

Malik said further that a date has yet to be fixed for the hearing for the second habeas corpus application.

“We expect to know only after Hari Raya,” he said.

Raja Petra, who has become a cause celebre for his scathing attacks against high government leaders, has been detained ostensibly for writing articles that were deemed sensitive to Muslims.

I just read my husband’s article on www. malaysia-today.net No Holds Barred and was extremely upset and it made my heart so heavy reading what Pet wrote: “It costs RM8 to feed a dog according to the Malay Mail survey and only RM4.50 to feed ISA detainees…..

I feed my cats and fish premium food such as science diet and would never dream of feeding my pets the food that we are fed here. I actually stopped eating the food here after the first couple of days because it gave me diarrhea. A couple of nights ago I vomitted after eating the food and now I cannot even stand the sight or smell of the trays that they sent to our cell twice a day. I now survive on dates and plain bread…..”

Umno preparing food for 200,000 people for their Open House for the 1st day of Hari Raya and what would the cost be per head?

How can Muslims of high authority use this unIslamic law, the ISA, on people during the month of Ramadan (the holy month for Muslims), put them under such barbaric conditions and rehabilitate them according to their perverted standards. Where is the compassion, where is the humanity and most important of all, where is the love of mankind that Islam enjoins its followers to observe? Can someone please explain all this to me? I am really very confused. All I can see is hypocrisy and man’s inhumanity to man, not compassion, consideration and common decency.

Jakim is coming up with an Islamic rehabilitation program for my husband, it is a joke. Did they even understand what Pet wrote in the first place since it is in English? What he wrote was not anti-Islam. The use of the ISA on Pet is all politically motivated. He has taken on powerful people and since the Prime Minister is weak, he is unable to use the powers that are available to bring justice. This is the tragedy of our country. Let us work towards a change in government, one that is committed to abolishing the despicable ISA. We want Rule of Law not Rule by ISA.

I am in Kamunting today, staying the night so that I can be first in line to get into the prison. It pains the grandchildren, children and I to be without Pet on Hari Raya. We miss him and the joy that he brings to us each day.

Thanks for your support and prayers my family have received. We must continue this fight to free Pet and his friends under detention in Kamunting. “Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf, Zahir dan Batin.”

Love from Pet and Family

I was perturbed when I read YB Teresa Kok’s statement that the food under ISA detention is equivalent or slightly better than dog food. It costs RM8 to feed a dog, according to the Malay Mail survey and only RM4.50 to feed on ISA detainees.

I feed my cats and fish premium food such as science diet and would never dream of feeding my pets the food that we are fed here. I actually stopped eating the food here after the first couple of days because it gave me diarrhea.

A couple of nights ago I vomited after eating the food and now I cannot even stand the sight or smell of the trays that they send to our cell twice a day.

I now survive on dates and plain water and I suppose if that is good enough for camels to survive in the Arabian Desert, it should be good enough for me.

I was told camels have a healthy sex drive and I would like to believe it because of the date that is my staple food. Of cause, there is no way I can test this theory until I come safely out of this place.

Actually, food is the least of my worries at this point of time. I am presently in three months solitary confinement and the only pussy I get to see is this mangy cat that somehow has found its way into my cellblock to sleep outside my locked door.

It has not rained since I arrived here a week ago and I was told Kamunting has not seen any rain for the last few weeks.

The heat in the cell is unbearable and the air is very stuffy.

The uncomfortable environment does help to put your mind off your growling stomach.

I am what they call under orientation. This three months’ orientation I suppose is to get me used to the 2 years I am going to spend here.

One of my favorite classics that I used to read in Standard 1 is the Tale of Two Cities, which is about the French Revolution. I can now better appreciate the battle cry “give me liberty or give me death”. They say you appreciate something only after it has been taken away from you. Today, my liberty is at the top of my priority list. But I know it shall not come soon and it shall not come easy and it shall only come if there is a change of government and if the new government fulfills its promise to abolish the ISA.