Wednesday July 16, 2008 MYT 8:40:45 PM
Raja Petra to be charged on Thursday
By FLORENCE A.SAMY
PETALING JAYA: Blogger and Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin is expected to be charged Thursday with criminal defamation in relation to his statutory declaration on the murder of Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaaribuu.
The Malaysia Today editor has been ordered to report to the ninth floor of the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters at 10am Thursday and he would then be taken to the Kuala Lumpur court complex in Jalan Duta, according to a posting on his website.
Blogger and Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin is expected to be charged Thursday with criminal defamation in relation to his statutory declaration on the murder of Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaaribuu. In his June 18 declaration, Raja Petra claimed to have knowledge that two lieutenant colonels and Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor were present when the body of Shaaribuu was blown up on Oct 19, 2006.
When contacted, Raja Petra confirmed that the police wanted to charge him with criminal defamation and said he was not surprised.
"I expected that they would do that. I am not worried. I am well prepared," he said.
Raja Petra also discouraged people from gathering on Thursday to protest the charge or arrest as he did not want to give the police a reason to arrest anyone.
Raja Petra reiterated that he would stand by his statutory declaration and stressed that he would not reveal who his informer is given what had happened to private investigator P. Balasubramaniam who disappeared after making his statutory declarations.
"Look at what happened to Bala. No matter what, I will stand by my statutory declaration. I will not succumb to any threat by anyone," he said when asked whether he would revoke the declaration.
Balasubramaniam has since then contacted his nephew who lodged a police report about his disappearance. However, Balasubramaniam's whereabouts are still unknown.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Najib Tun Razak, who is Rosmah's husband, dismissed Raja Petra's statutory declaration as "total lies, fabrication and total garbage" and said his wife had given her statement to the police.
The two lieutenant colonels had filed defamation suits against Raja Petra on the allegations, seeking several things including an "unreserved and unqualified" apology to be published in websites and all national papers and RM1mil to be paid in damages (to be donated to a charitable foundation).
On Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's arrest about 45 minutes before his 2pm deadline Wednesday, Raja Petra said it was uncalled for.
"Not only did he give his word that he would be at the police station at 2pm; he also reconfirmed it when a police officer called him," he added.
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