Police detained Malaysia’s top anti-government blogger yesterday under a law allowing indefinite detention without trial, his wife said, in a move likely to face public reproach amid heightened political tensions.
Online commentator Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin has infuriated authorities by publishing numerous claims about alleged misdeeds by government leaders on his influential Web site, Malaysia Today. The government has denounced many of Raja Petra’s accusations as lies.
Raja Petra’s wife, Marina Lee Abdullah, said police came to their home and informed them that he was being arrested under the Internal Security Act, a widely criticized law used against suspects regarded as national security threats.
Deputy Home Minister Wan Farid Wan Salleh, whose ministry handles police and security, declined to comment. Police officials could not immediately be contacted.
The move comes two weeks after the government’s telecommunications industry regulator ordered Malaysian Internet service providers to cut off access to Malaysia Today because it had allegedly published racially inflammatory comments.
Raja Petra kept the site accessible through an alternative link amid a public outcry that the government was censoring cyberspace.
Authorities lifted the ban on Thursday, but warned they would use the Internal Security Act against anyone who stoked political and racial strife.
Some of Malaysia’s most popular Web sites and blogs offer fiercely anti-government commentaries, presenting themselves as a substitute for mainstream media, which are controlled by ruling political parties or closely linked to them.
Raja Petra has repeatedly encountered troubles with the law. He was charged with sedition in May for allegedly implying the deputy prime minister was involved in the killing of a young Mongolian woman. His trial is scheduled to start next month.
Tensions have risen in Malaysia amid a threat by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to topple the government by next week.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
RSS