(The Star) PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Today news portal editor Raja Petra Kamarudin was arrested under the Internal Security Act for allegedly being a threat to security, peace and public order.

Raja Petra, 58, who was arrested under Section 73(1) of the ISA, is alleged to have posted articles deemed seditious and that also belittle Islam.

Last week, the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) and several Muslim organisations lodged a police report against him for allegedly insulting Malays, Muslims and Islam.

On Sept 6, under The Corridors of Power article posted on Malaysia Today, Raja Petra had hinted that it might be his last article until Sept 16, if he were to be detained under the ISA. He is banking on Anwar’s Sept 16 promise for an early release from ISA.

“Yes, I too have placed not only my money, but also my freedom on Anwar. And if Anwar fails to deliver his promise on Sept 16, not only he but I as well am headed for a fall,” he said in his posting.

Raja Petra, founder of the controversial news portal, was charged in the Sessions Court on Aug 15 on three counts of criminal defamation over his statutory declaration on the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng is believed to have been arrested over her report on former Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail’s racist remarks while campaigning for the Permatang Pauh by-election last month.

Tan, 32, is an award-winning journalist with nine years of experience. She is a Mass Communication graduate from Universiti Sains Malaysia.

DAP’s Seputeh MP Teresa Kok is also assemblyman for Kinrara and a senior executive councillor in charge of investment, industry and trade.

Kok, 43, is believed to have been picked up in connection with a residents petition in Puchong over a mosque.

Former mentri besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo had allegedly accused Kok of being involved.

She subsequently denied the allegation and demanded an apology from Dr Mohd Khir and the newspaper which reported it.

Comments (25)

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written by Sitora, September 13, 2008 12:13:01

Sejauh ini berhubung dengan kes melibatkan pihak pembangkang, kerajaan mempunyai polisi berat sebelah. Seringkali orang yang tidak bersalah dihukum sementara, orang yang bersalah atau menaburkan fitnah terlepas dari hukuman sebab mereka adalah orang kuat UMNO.

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written by kanokporn, September 13, 2008 12:15:08

dear sirs,if the pr takeover has to cause so much of tension and heartache for the govt such that it no longer is able to make rational decisions, could i suggest that pr get together and get dsai to make a joint statement to defer this for the sake of all malaysians rather than play up or be trapped into the malay umno mentality.it is worth it

on the side, malaysiakini, pls open up your site for all to read so that they can be updated as to the events at least until the storm blows over and for the sake of those who have been arrested and the latest newes.newspapers are rubbish esp nst and tamil news

on the side again, it is increasingly difficult since 20 min ago to log onto malaysia today either thru tmnet or the opendns. traffic must be heavy plus skmm tmnett and the isps mental cases are at their stupid games again all under instruction or directives of course.thanks

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written by peter, September 13, 2008 12:16:08

The Zimbabwean / Myanmar style of government is being put in place. See this pariah country, the innocent get locked up while that mother of all racists, AhMad is still making racial slurs. This bolehland government is really a pariah government.

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written by Motherchell, September 13, 2008 12:18:16

Jakim and all the other Umno nurtured groups are their TOOLs of convience for their misuse.

The Malysian Ambassador haS BEEN SUMMONNED BY THE US State Dept as i type .
Ive written to many Rights groups , from Cape Town--Geneva, to Washington. Lets tell them that our Keyboards are our KEYS that will open us the door to freedom and justice IN MALAYSIA . I humbly Urge our beloved RULERS to do the wise thing .

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written by Tsunami08, September 13, 2008 12:19:41

Degenerating into a Zimbabwe. I'm moving my money out, and I won't be alone.

- Investor

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written by sjs, September 13, 2008 12:26:32

The leadership of UMNO,

Dont ignite the flame of hatred and bitterness amongst the unified people of this nation! Aren't you ashamed of what you are doing now? Money, Power and Fame! These are the only things that you care about! How long will these last?

As the day of the judgment nears for you, don't unleash your last evils!

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written by mucking fuddled, September 13, 2008 12:27:51

MCA , GERAKAN , MIC...all you spineless cowards....GET OUT, why are you numb nuts letting THEM trample the rakyat with impunity? are there not an ounce of conscience in any of you?

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written by ladasiber, September 13, 2008 12:34:08

It's painful. Ismail is untouchable. As long as your have the keris, you are above the law. You botak SOB without balls.

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written by ahmadneil, September 13, 2008 12:35:22

Dear super admin,My suggestion is to let bloggers comment on a 60 seconds interval so as to get more people to comment.The long waiting time cause alot of frustration.Now with the unblocking of MT, many are joining the queue to comment.Did you notice the low comments on most topics.With so many topics coming up,we must open up to let the bloggers get their comments in faster.I hope my plead is taken into consideration.

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written by renoir, September 13, 2008 12:37:02

Arresting Tan and Teresa are about the gravest mistakes the government has ever made. The former is an impeccable journalist, while the latter is well-known for her services to her constituencies. This is something people aren't going to forget in a long, long, time.

As for RPK, he invites it because he believes that the only proper place for a just man in an unjust country is in jail. This kind of hero comes into the world only once in a century.

Power and wealth are transient things. Why stain one's honor in their pursuit? I hope the powers-that-be would realize their wrongs and release the three immediately. That way, Malaysians can still can say something good about this government, long after all of us have passed away.

LChuah

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written by Ravee, September 13, 2008 12:43:40

Teresa Kok was detained under ISA simply on the allegation of an Indon. Time has come for the Rakyat to unite and bring this unjust and oppresive govenment down. I have said it before and I will say it again - come and get me *******s

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written by gorshan, September 13, 2008 12:46:07

misalan: gua nampak pencuri sedang mencuri,gua lapor polis,polis datang soal pencuri bagi amaran pada pencuri,lepaskan pencuri dan polis terus tangkap gua sumbat penjara sebab gua berani lapor pencuri pada polis.

beritahu gua ini kes ada serupa kah itu kes Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng ?

inikah BN style of justice?

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written by micon02, September 13, 2008 12:50:26

JAKIM betul2 kah understand & practice Islamic Way Of Live?
I don't think so...

Persoalan kepada JAKIM

1. adakah ISA mengikut ajaran Islam?
2. Mengapakah Jakim diam membisu bila fitnah yang di buat oleh Umno semakin menjadi di negara ini?
3. adakah hadari itu benar?
4. Kenapakah Jakim tidak complain kepada BPR, CORRUPTION masih active di kalangan Umno, kerajaan dan swasta?
5. Mengapa Jakim tidak counsel Saiful sama ada dakwaan terehadap itu benar?
6. Tahukah Jakim fitnah itu adalah dosa besar?
7. Mengikut ajaran Islam kita tidak boleh menuduh sesaroang tanpa bukti yang kukuh.
8. Saksi2 yang pembohong, kencing berdiri dan memihak kepada kerajaan yang zalim tidak sah?

Banyak lagi hal2 yang salah laku yang Jakim tak mempesoalkan kepada kerajaan dan rakyat.

Jakiim duduk di bawah telunjuk Umno dan kerajaan zalim. adakah ini di bolehkan mengikut ajaran Islam?

Tahukah Jakim there is no "DOUBLE STANDARD" in Islam?

JAWAB......

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written by Malaysia Ku, September 13, 2008 13:06:49

Guys, the best thing to do is to stay calm while we protest on the strongest term. UMNO did this because they want to create uncertainty so that the September 16 take over will not happen. It has been UMNO tactic to see if we "MELATAH" then it is to their advantage. We should show to them we are united and we will never break. We will also show to them their BREAK AND RULE tactic will not work this time.

Last and not least all Malaysian (Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Taoist etc) pray that this dark episode will end in the peaceful way. Let us pray that those detainees will not be harmed and be released soon to their family. After all what they did is because their love of the country.. MAY JUSTICE PREVAIL AND SAVE OUR BELOVED MALAYSIA..

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written by Taiping60, September 13, 2008 13:22:19

Lies Lies Lies..that was what we have been getting over and over again.

Sorry we do not buy the excuses you gave for the ISA detention. They are done for politically reason to ensure BN countinue to be in power.

We want you to know this time, you will not succeed as Malaysians regardless of races to prevend Malaysians to move FORWARD as a multi-racial country. We want progress and peace moving forward. We call upon peace loving Malaysians. Stay calm and pray for these three ISA detainess and the rest of the ISA detainees.

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written by rams609, September 13, 2008 13:42:36

okay, I can understand whenthey arrested RPK. But why Theresa Kok? She's so sweeet and has done nothing wrong....And she's my wakil rakyatlah!

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written by ez24get, September 13, 2008 13:58:04

It so obvious who started all these chaos. Just look at the common connection in each case as to who started the fire:

RPK Case : The Islam organisations JAWI, JAKIM, IKIM, etc who alleged Raja Petra insulted Islam and lodged police report against him are all linked to UMNO.

Teresa Kok Case: Khir Toyo stated in his blog and soon after Utusan Malaysia picked up from the blog claiming that Teresa had told mosque officials in Kota Damansara, Sri Serdang and Puchong Jaya to tone down the call to Azan prayer. This claim was patently falsed and Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud of PAS lodged a police report against Khir Toyo for stirring up the Azan prayer issue. Khir Toyo is a leader from UMNO and Utusan Malaysia is controlled by UMNO.

Sin Chew Daily senior reporter Tan Hoon Cheng Case: The person who utter the racial slur that chinese are "pendatang" and as such do not deserve to be treated equally was Ahmad Ismail the Bukit Bendera UMNO chief. In doing her honest work, the reporter merely reported what Ahmad had said. Ahmad's racial instigation has brought the nation close to the brink of another May 13 and the No 1 contributing factor to this ISA crackdown.

It is so very obvious whose fingers are stuck in the pie and the reasons why they are instigating all the unrest. Luckily, Malaysians nowadays are wiser to UMNO's tricks and could not be duped into falling into their hands.

We, the peace loving Malaysians consisting of malays, chinese, indians, kadasuns, ibans, sikhs, etc of all religions will stand united with each other to make sure the traitorous UMNO will not succeed in causing hatred among its citizens and lead the country into destruction!

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written by Alice, September 13, 2008 13:58:14

stay calm things are going to get better soon

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written by aykf9439, September 13, 2008 14:18:31

What kind of the rule of law is the ******* PM and his Goverment is preaching now ?????

One minute he is preaching for a greater transparency in the media and a fairer reporting from the journalism , the next minute he is ordering the ISA detention for the journalist whom just reporting the truth , are u trying to achieved from this actions ?

If your every minute as the PM of Malaysia is indeed very disgusting to the majority of our fellow Malaysians , then sir , i indeed please and even beg u to stand down before any further damage will be done to this beautiful country with ur inability and yr crazy greediness and even selfishness .......

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written by hace, September 13, 2008 14:37:00

Dear RPK, Teresa Kok and Tan Hoon Cheng,
You're always in our thoughts and prayers.

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written by Msian 2, September 13, 2008 14:39:10

Such actions is atkinned to a pariah nation & we are on the right path with this govt. The rakyat can now see our idiot govt abuses & the power that corrupts in action. We the rakyat knows who we shall vote in the next election.

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written by Edward C, September 13, 2008 15:16:19

Khir Toyol should be investigated for telling lies to create racial disharmony if his claim is not true.

There must be a investigation into this. Proper action must be taken against him for such allegation.

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written by educationist, September 13, 2008 16:11:12

In a nutshell, the three are arrested as pawns in the UMNOputras chess game to prevent Anwar pulling off his 916 plan.
Will they succeed in preventing the take over?
Only Anwar and his strategists know!
So why not Anwar himself? Ah! I have no answer - I just hope he will succeed so that a new dawn will dawn upon Malaysia.

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written by mucking fuddled, September 13, 2008 16:23:32

dear super admin (kasee)

i have a bone to pick with you !
a friend of mine name FOOK was so delighted i mentioned his name until you saw it fit to censor a common chinese name...
now i cannot retain his distraught.....poor chap

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written by asguard, September 13, 2008 19:29:39

They get irritate when truth is out... expose their wrong doings and more lies...

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