Raja Petra chooses jail rather than post bail

Pix courtesy of malaysiakini

UPDATE, 4.00 pm : According to Puan Marina, Raja Petra will be brought to Petaling Jaya Sessions Court at 9.45 am tomorrow (Friday, 9 May 2008). All are welcome to the venue tomorrow to meet with Raja Petra and walk with him.

UPDATE, 8 May, 2.00 pm : Raja Petra has agreed to post bail today when his wife managed to see him for the first time this morning, reported here. Raja Petra has also begun to take some food and drink water.

UPDATE, 12.50 pm : It's been reported here that according to Marina Lee Abdullah, Raja Petra's wife, Raja Petra has refused to see anyone, including her. Marina also added she was informed by the police that Raja Petra is apparently on hunger strike.

Yesterday, Raja Petra Kamarudin was charged with sedition at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court over an article titled "Let's send the Altantuya murderers to hell" which he wrote in his website, Malaysia Today.

Raja Petra has claimed trial to the charge [under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act] for publishing the alleged seditious article on 25 April. Hearing has been fixed from 06 to 10 October.

Raja Petra was granted a bail of RM5,000 but has refused, in principle, to post and rather decided to choose to remain in custody until the hearing.

Malaysians from all over have voluntarily contributed to a donation drive "Walk with RPK: One Ringgit One Person" to post his bail on his behalf. The donation drive has since being called off at about 5.45 p.m. yesterday as a total of about RM25,000 has been collected.

We wish Raja Petra well and demand that justice prevails.

- Terjemahan oleh Lee Wee Tak - Ucapan ribuan terima kasih dari Wee Choo Keong -

Maklumat terkini 12.50 pm: Dilaporkan di sini menurut isteri RPK, Marina Lee Abdullah, Raja Petra enggan menjumpai sesiapa termasuk isterinya. Marina menambahkan bahawa Polis memberitahunya RPK sedang bantah- berpuasa.

Semalam, Raja Petra Kamarudin dituduh menghasut di Mahlamah Sessi Petaling Jaya kerana karangannya "Let's send the Altantuya murderers to hell" yang terpapar di website, Malaysia Today.

Raja Petra minta dibicara menurut [bawah Seksyen 4(1)(c) Hukum Akta Hasutan] kerana memaparkan karangan yang kononnya dituduh menghasut pada tanggal 25 April. Perbicaraan telah ditetapkan pada 06 hingga 10 Oktober.

Raja Petra dibenar ikat jamin RM5,000 tetapi telah menolak tawaran ikat jamin dan lebih rela dipenjarakan sehingga tarikh bicara.

Rakyat Malaysia daripada semua tempat telah menyumbang kepada kutipan derma "Walk with RPK: One Ringgit One Person" untuk membayar ikat jamin tersebut. Kuitpan derma telah dihentikan pada pukul 5.45 p.m. semalam kerana RM25,000 telah dikutip.

Kami harap Raja Petra berada dalam keadaan selamat dan harap adanya keadilan.

20,000 came to celebrate with Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim and hear him speak

UPDATE 15 April, 10.40 am: More pictures. Courtesy of TV Smith.

I was at the celebration at Kelab Sultan Sulaiman, Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur which was held this evening to mark the expiry of Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim's ban from public office, 10 years after he was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister.

Congratulations and best wishes Dato' Seri.

The crowd comprising of all groups of Malaysians was huge and eager. I get this feeling that they want to hear what their prime-minister-in-waiting has to say. My estimation of the crowd was that it was about 20,000 strong.

I don't think the main-stream media will report about this event in a major way. Even if they do, they will probably claim the crowd was about 200 or 2,000 (they somehow have this dirty habit of dropping or 'swallowing' their zeros ... I wonder why.)

Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the de facto leader of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, spoke to the guests for more than an hour but what was most memorable was his affirmation that Pakatan Rakyat (a coalition of PKR, DAP and PAS) stands firmly in its belief for Ketuanan Rakyat.

He reiterated that there are poor and marginalised Malays as well as Chinese, Indians and others from the ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak. The welfare of the rakyat is paramount and Pakatan Rakyat will never forget this point. Pakatan Rakyat will serve the interests of the Malays as well as all other Malaysians. Race-based politics, he alluded, is also dead and gone.

I came away from the celebration with a happy feeling and is assured that Malaysia has a bright future. I am sure the rest of the crowd felt the same way.

I was also told that tonight's celebration also coincided with Raja Petra Kamarudin's 35th wedding anniversary celebration. My congratulations and best wishes also go to Raja Petra and his beloved wife. (Raja Petra Kamarudin is the founder of Malaysia Today blog.)

Pictures courtesy of TV Smith:






Pictures courtesy of Hard-T: