Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Blogger@Jail.com.my


Controversial political blogger Raja Petra chooses to go jail than to post for the RM5,000 bail over the Sedition charge. The clampdown on bloggers who are only offering their opinion and views on current issues are seen by many as a step backward by the Pak Lah administration.

Immediately after yesterday arrest a fundraisng was organised to collect fund for posting the bail and the updates as at 09.09am 7th May 2008 - Total Donation after they call off the campaignFrom CIMB bank account : RM24,500.00From Paypal account : $4,330.10 USD
The support from the public was fantastics and overwhelming. In an immediate response, the Bar Council expressed shocked and disappointment over the government's decision to charge Malaysia Today webmaster Raja Petra Kamaruddin with sedition.

Calling the Sedition Act 1948 an "archaic legislation which should be repealed", its president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said the Act was incompatible with Malaysian society. Meanwhile,
the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI) are concerned that the Sedition Act continues to be used to harass bloggers, contradicting the positive attitude that the government exhibited towards bloggers post election.
Later today, Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin refused to meet his wife who went to the Sungai Buloh Prison to persuade him to post bail for a sedition charge.Raja Petra's counsel Jadadish Chandra said Marina Lee Abdullah went to the prison with another counsel Matthias Chang at about 9am to facilitate the bail process.Jadadish said Raja Petra had informed prison officers he did not want to meet anyone including his wife."Raja Petra is refusing bail and officers had told Marina her husband had also refused to eat since Tuesday," he told Bernama.

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