The new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should answer two questions – has a new Internal Security Act (ISA) detention order been issued against blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and whether a decision had been taken to charge him for treason or equally serious capital offence?
If not, is Najib prepared to make two public commitments that under his premiership, Raja Petra will not be victimized and will not be detained under a fresh ISA detention order and will not be charged for treason or equally serious capital offence for what he had done so far?
Furthermore, is Najib prepared to make the further commitment for the withdrawal of the government’s appeal to the Federal Court against Raja Petra’s release under the ISA in November when the Shah Alam High Court ruled that his ISA detention was illegal.
Raja Petra’s absence from his sedition trial, the issue of a warrant of arrest against him and Raja Petra’s explanation in his news portal, Malaysia Today, of the reasons for his action yesterday have focused national and international spotlight not only on RPK but also on the new Prime Minister and his administration.
Although epithets like “coward” and “yellow” have been hurled at him, these are from a tiny minority as Raja Petra strikes a great resonance from a great number of Malaysians when he said that he has no confidence that he could get a fair trial and justice from the Malaysian courts.
It is a mark of the inability of Najib as the new Prime Minister to command public confidence that more and more Malaysians share Raja Petra’s grave doubts about the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary as the promises of judicial reforms in the past five years have failed to bear fruit.
#1 by Onlooker Politics on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 10:36 am
The words “the promises of judicial reforms in the past five years have failed to borne fruit” may be referring to the promises made by Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2004. Najib might deny that he ever made such promises before.
As the Prime Minister, Najib will have the final say in the invocation of the ISA for detaining anybody whom Najib doesn’t like. Even if there is no ISA detention order being issued by Najib’s Home Minister for the arrest of RPK now, no one can totally rule out the possibility of an order to be issued to detain RPK at a later day when RPK decides to appear again in the public places. It will be a vainless effort to ask Najib to make a promise at the current stage of not invoking the ISA against RPK since Najib will turn deaf to such a call!
As for the question on whether RPK will be charged in court for treason or any other similar offence which will induce capital punishment upon conviction, I think the only person who can provide the best answer is the Attorney-General, since it is the jurisdiction of the A-G Chamber to decide on whether to charge or not charge a suspect for criminal offence!
#2 by OrangRojak on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 10:58 am
‘failed to bear’
I’m sure someone posted a quotation recently about willingly submitting to law when it is used to oppress.
I think part of the attraction in RPK’s writing was that he appeared to be hurling himself onto the spears of those he wrote about. I have thought on more than one occasion that he recklessly overdid some of his rhetoric. I’m not a fan of his writing style, but I have to give him A+ for a sensational climax, if not quite the one I was expecting.
#3 by monsterball on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 11:38 am
We had Abdullah said openly he will be People’s PM…what happen to ISA under him?
Najib cannot answer LKS….as he needs to consult Mahathir first.
When he was a minister….it is well known he consulted his mother most of the time….until he began to have confidence with Mahathir.
22 years under Mahathir…please tell me ….what spectacular achievement he had made achieve..to warrant him as our PM?
All Malaysians know….he is clouded with crooked Russian submarine deal and Altantuya murder case.
He has said..more than RM500 million is paid to Baginda Razak as commission……that’s all….so logical…clean as a whistle.
Murder case…he sworn by the Koran….that’s all.. proven innocent.
Go digest UMNO’s lawfulness.
You see….the above plus the history of Najib’s unreliable character…you can keep on dreaming Najib will promise PRK..a fair trial and complete protection.
RPK is his enemy No1…but then he may spring up a surprise….after consulting Mahathir how to win votes.
Treating RPK nice have two reactions….one showing he is not guilty….and can forgive and forget.a great Muslim. Secondly..he is having so much guilty conscience…hide them…acting to show he is guilty..by making a public statement…promise fair trial and protection for RPK..to lure RPK out from hiding.
Najib can never do what Lim Kit Siang advise him to do.
It’s the guilty conscience that dictates by these hypocrites..expert in twisting and acting skills..to survive..having full confidence….police and majority judicial buggers are well paid and obedient to UMNO.
Malaysia have no sincere professionals from these two groups to protect innocent Malaysians at all..under UMNO.
#4 by limaho on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 11:59 am
If I have to name the bravest of all good Malaysians who are prepared to stand up against corruption and other mal practices in Malaysia, that person must definitely be RPK. If feel so sorry for RPK and his family, now that he has to seek refuge in another country. I can understand why he does not have confidence in the Malaysian justice system. I want to plead the people in power to give RPK a fair go.
#5 by yokielaw on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 12:04 pm
To the World: What did RPK do wrong to be ISA-ed? He is merely a believer of TRUTH & JUSTICE NOT A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY. There were so many other big shot Umno politicians who were more serious propagators & perpetrators of threats to national security egs. our Tun M and his son, Uncle Hamid, our now DPM and some other Ummnos-MBs who openly feed the racial fire and openly and put in writing to ask ex-PM to step down, going against the will of the majority rakyat- are all these not more serious offences (but ISA didn’t take any action bec, they have Umno skins, got double standard in Bolehland) than our mere blogger RPK who only pen on his views, opinions and speaks his minds and trying to reveal any truths in the name of justice?? What the ISA is doing is to prevent him from telling the truth and justice prevails, by silencing him. Poor RPK – May the VIRTUE OF TRUTH & JUSTICE Be YOUR GUARDIAN PROTECTORS & GODS ALWAYS THERE TO PROTECT YOU WHEREVER YOU ARE & WHEREVER U GO & WHATEVER U DO.OMI-TWOFWO!
#6 by boh-liao on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 12:22 pm
The pen is mightier than the keris.
Umno can allow people to wave keris
but cannot and must not allow people to push the pen
royalty or no royalty
#7 by k1980 on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 1:50 pm
Don’t worry, RPK. Even if your passport is impounded, I’ll get my old pal Daniel Ortega to issue you with a Nicaraguan passport, like he one he gave Thaksin
#8 by yhsiew on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 1:51 pm
I think UMNO should go back to what they are good at – developing the country – instead of prosecuting and sending dissidents to jail.
Najib should heed American civil right icon Rev Jesse Jakcson’s advice which was published in “theSun” today. He said, “If this country has a stable government but at the same time embraces democracy and democratic outcomes this will be one of the greatest nations in the world.” He also said that Malaysia has a lot of potential as an economic superpower but can go further if it continues to uphold the principles of democracy. He warned that in the new world order economic growth and long-lasting peace cannot be realized if the tenets of human rights and democracy are not respected.
I suggest Najib drop all charges against RPK and put his effort and energy in making Malaysia an economic superpower. If Chow Mai Fun of MCA could say she is used to slandering by his enemies, Najib could do even better as Prime Minister – forgetting what lies behind and striving forward to bring the country to greater heights.
#9 by yhsiew on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 1:58 pm
Oop!
‘by his enemies’ should be ‘by her enemies’.
#10 by LBJ on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 2:06 pm
Raja Petra’s issue is much bigger than just one man. It is about the integrity of the judicial system and fairness of the entire justice system. This undermines the trust of the people and investors both local and foreign.
#11 by The Killer on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 5:00 pm
LKS
Do you seriously believe Najib has to answer every allegations that you and his political opponents throw at him (which happens hourly) or focus on the national management to resolve the long list of economic, social and other issues ?
RPK’s accusations are never about justice or good governance but just blind, baseless accusations that would only be accepted by the converted.
I urge Najib to ignore such juvenile calls….let him focus on bigger issues…
#12 by Onlooker Politics on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 6:40 pm
In a country where the people really place a high value on civil liberty and freedom of speech, such as the United States, no one will ever be easily taken to court even he/she has been accused for allegedly passing some libel or slanderous remark about someone who can be classified as “public figure”. The Supreme Court of the United States ever ruled that a public figure should have no rights to file a legal lawsuit against someone for libel or slander, lest the legal proceedings would be abused by the influential public figure in order to launch a persecution attack on his/her enemy of dissident opinion or dissenting opinion, with the only exception being given to certain cases whereby the life of the public figure has been endangered by a murder threat posed by the malicious words of a suspect.
As the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib is said to be the most powerful man in the world and his power is so great that even the Dewan Rakyat or the Senate of the Legislative Branch of Malaysian Government will not be able to put check or impose restraint on the Executive power of Najib. The president of the United States has never been given the right by American Law to sue anyone who purportedly passes the libel or slanderous remark unto the U.S. President even though the U.S. President does not enjoy as much power as that of Najib. Why should Najib be further given the special legal privilege by the A-G Chamber in the case of charging RPK to court for RPK’s allegedly committing the criminal slander upon Najib and Rosmah?
RPK should be set free from all forms of political persecution on whatever legal basis. This is because the voices uttered from the mouth of RPK really represent the true voices from the bottom of the heart of many “little man” Malaysian people who have grave discontent about the injustice and unrighteousness being done by the political walking tall of Umno. RPK’s words are just like the sharp sword of King David at his young age which managed to slay the invincible giant Goliath even in a hopeless situation where no slim chance of victory could be comfortably expected and even David’s mere survival had to be deemed as mission impossible!
We plea that the ISA detention order that had been issued by the former Home Minister to detain RPK be immediately revoked and repelled by the present Home Minister. There is no good reason for Najib’s cabinet to continue wanting to detain RPK under the ISA since Najib has already managed to grab the seat of the Prime Minister! Najib has already won this round and he should at least show some mercy upon his political enemy now before the people’s fury has gone out of the control and be turned into a unmanageable anarchy situation like that of present Thailand!
#13 by chengho on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 6:57 pm
are they closing Guantanamo?
#14 by limkamput on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 9:08 pm
Eunuch chengho, you should be concerned with Kamunting, not Guantanamo because it is too far for you to get there. You can’t swim.
#15 by Onlooker Politics on Friday, 24 April 2009 - 9:42 pm
Chengho,
Ask your political master to close down Kamunting Detention Centre and Kampung Batu Detention Centre first before you demand for anything about Guantanamo!
What kind of legitimacy do you possess in order to justify your demand upon the U.S. President for the release of suspected Terrorists from Guantanamo Detention Centre?
Why do you have to show so much sympathy upon the Al-Queda Terrorists and Iraqi subversives who are being detained at Guantanamo while you say nothing about the naked human rights infringement which has been committed by your dirty political master in his instruction for issuing the ISA detention order to detain the heroic RPK? Are you the spy being sent by Osama in order to do a brain wash on the peace-loving Malaysian people? By reading on your lacklustre comments, I can safely conclude that you don’t qualify to be the Spy of Osama since you only know how to utter fishy words which you yourself later have to find them very difficult to swallow even by yourself! You are definitely a nut who leans on bad taste by choosing an unrighteous man as your political master!
#16 by passerby on Saturday, 25 April 2009 - 1:00 am
Talk is cheap, Najib. As long as you are not prepared to be investigated for the Altantuya’s murder and the submarine corruption case, no one one will believe you. We all know you needed the judiciary, the police, the isa, etc to protect you from what you have done.
#17 by Taxidriver on Saturday, 25 April 2009 - 2:15 am
passerby says:
“Talk is cheap, Najib. As long as you are not prepared to be investigated for the Altantuya’s murder and the submarine corruption case,no one one will believe you
I believe you, Najib. You have already sworn by the Holy Quaran and asked Allah to be your witness.
#18 by boh-liao on Saturday, 25 April 2009 - 10:17 am
The new messiah has no time to reply to LKS
A messiah with new bold vison for the nation
Want 1Malaysia
Just appointed a number of confirmed tainted Umno giants
confirmed money politics & corrupt kaki
(kaki unable to stand for election but can be appointed)
as members of Umno supreme council
to champion Umno
Hail the new messiah
Bringing us a new dawn?
What kind of new dawn?
#19 by Rebeccapersian on Saturday, 25 April 2009 - 5:43 pm
this is an extract of a report by an independent journalist which shows that the Election Commission is just PRO BN! If you support this report, please cut and paste on every group in Facebook. Thank you.
“The same views have been echoed by no less than the Election Commission (EC). Plus, the EC has openly supported proposals by some BN leaders such as Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir and Tan Keng Liang to prevent “unnecessary” elections. These include suggestions for stricter laws, and penalties for elected reps or their parties should an elected representative resign for reasons other than what’s stated in Article 48(1) of the Federal Constitution.”
http://www.thenutgraph.com.my/funding-democracy-the-bn-way
#20 by lopez on Sunday, 26 April 2009 - 9:54 am
not so long ago,…got famous brothers in arms..the Hang Brothers
now also got a copy ….
in the old days…soldiers are the peasants who fought for together with their leader…against their common enemy or aggressors
as time passes….the common enemy is not the same….in most times the enemy is not the enemy of the soldiers but more like a personal enemy of their leader who whisper hate and lies to get support against his personal agendas.
these days soldiers don’t go threatening others, so no enemies are created.
so how come still many problems …..
#21 by yokielaw on Sunday, 26 April 2009 - 10:52 am
All these low moral ppl eg Rais Y (a chameleon on ISA) with no moral shame and fear are no longer relevant in our era.They can pack their idealogies and brains and display them in the museum.This fella should be our Head of Museum Negara. His face is very apt for this post and be placed in the National Museum to be remembered & cherished for generations – Guiness book of Malaysia Museum.
To: RPK – go and become a holy monk and liberate yourself (with all your wholesome virtues and goodness in seeking the truth and justice not for yourself but for all innocent Malaysians minus those nasty greedy for power no moral ppl), don’t waste your life and your time on all “these” no moral ppl. Don’t worry RPK, those ppl who done evil and wrong, KARMA will “ISA” them. Karma has its way- a natural Law of the Universe.Don’t worry, just do good, avoid evil and purify your mind, DO THE BEST AND LEAVE THE REST.May you and your family stay compose and calm in any turbulence. The WINNER is always the one who is patient, calm, compose, blameless and pure in mind.Do not let “these” unholy ppl stain you and prevent you from liberation. Leave the “mud” to “them” and you be the “lotus flower” amidst the “mud”. Your struggle will not be forgotten and did not go to waste. We share your pain, struggle, anger and frustrations in the name of justice.May justice & peace prevails.Peace & safety to you & your family.Good luck!
#22 by james111 on Sunday, 26 April 2009 - 1:53 pm
Dear YB LKS,
I support you to continue to show how BN is so hypocrite.
For example, when Tan Keng Liang (Kedah gerakan youth head) suggested to impose a penalty for unreasonable resignation and to amend the Federal Consitution (for the 5 years ban) to make it possible for assemblyman to call for by-election to get people approval (to solve the crisis in Perak), the Election Commission only supported his penalty proposal (just because it makes PKR look bad at Penanti under the Fairuz scandal).
So, what about the amendment to the Federal Constitution????
I manage to search google and found his proposal to SPR at his blog. – http://tankengliang.blogspot.com/2009/04/proposed-amendment-to-current-election.html
SPR dare not even talk about his proposal for amendment of the 5 years ban to allow by-election at Perak.!!!!
If SPR want to accept Tan’s proposal for the penalty, they must also adopt his idea for amendment to the Federal Constitution (to make exemption of the 5 years ban). Otherwise, it is just selecting proposal for their BN benefit.
If possible YB LKS,
please highlight this hypocrisy of BN and SPR!!!