Wednesday September 24, 2008
Raja Petra sent to Kamunting, gets two-year detention
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin was sent to the Kamunting detention camp late on Monday night after the Home Minister signed a two-year detention order under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
Under Section 8(1) of the Act, the minister can order a detention if he is satisfied that it is necessary to prevent that person from acting in a manner prejudicial to the country’s security.
Yesterday, DPP Abdul Wahab Mohamad used the new detention order as a preliminary objection to the blogger’s habeas corpus application in the High Court saying Raja Petra was no longer detained by the police under the Section 73(1) of the ISA.
DPP Abdul Wahab said the police no longer had authority over the applicant and that the burden had shifted to the Home Minister.
“Thus, any illegality in the prior arrest and detention cannot be the subject matter of an inquiry; any previous issues which transpired before the issuance of the detention order cannot be subject to judicial inquiry,” he told Justice Suraya Othman.
Family support: Marina (right) and Sarah arriving at the courthouse in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Marina says she will never give up fighting for her husband. Raja Petra had filed a habeas corpus application on Sept 16 for his release. The blogger had named the Inspector-General of Police as respondent.
In a supporting document, Raja Petra’s wife, Mable @ Marina Lee Abdullah, said she believed that Raja Petra was detained under the ISA on Sept 12 to silence him as well as to extract information on his sources.
His lead counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar argued yesterday that the minister’s order was merely to defeat the wrongful detention application by his client and was unacceptable.
He submitted the minister’s order was inter-related to the detention order by the police, adding the applicant could still challenge its validity.
“It is a very urgent matter and there is no evidence to suggest that he (Raja Petra) is a threat to national security. He just put in his comments,” he said.
Justice Suraya asked both parties to file further written submissions before the hearing reconvened on Oct 28.
Speaking to reporters later, Malik said he would file a habeas corpus application for his client under Section 8 of the Act.
Marina and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok sat with former de facto Law Minister Senator Datuk Zaid Ibrahim in the public gallery and chatted with him.
Marina, 54, said her husband’s detention in Kamunting was politically motivated and that she would never give up fighting for him.
Also in court yesterday were Raja Petra’s two daughters, Suraya, 31, and Sarah, 19.
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