Blogger Opts For Jail Over Bail

This month will surely not be the ever popular merry month of May, but it is a month that will be remembered nevertheless.

Just a week into May, following World Press Freedom Day, we witness the first blogger, Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK), to be charged under the Sedition Act, after he allegedly posted a 'seditious' article titled "Let’s send the Altantutya murderers to hell" on his website Malaysia Today. The article implicated Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor in the 2006 murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

This and all other information are certainly available in the Mainstream Media or the Alternative Media. Therefore, I would not waste my time narrating each sequence of the events but would only offer you my critical take on it. By saying critical I mean the-one-who-does-not-take-the-government-seriously kind of take.

Before we go any further, it would be crucial for us to get to know the accused a little more. He started writing since his blog started its operation in August 2004. His writing style is often very witty, humorous and straight to the point. In addition, in his most recent post he admitted that if his articles were to be scrutinised, most article could fall under the government's category of seditious.

Hence, arise the question of why now? After almost four years of operation and god knows how many articles posted, why does this particular article that brought Raja Petra to court under the charge of sedition instead of the ones before. Why only after the Barisan Nasional suffer it's biggest defeat in history do the authorities launch their crackdown on 'seditious' bloggers.

Consequently, this merely strengthens my conviction that this entire saga is orchestrated by the powers that be to intimidate free speaking individuals and serve as a lesson to others that fall in the same league. I have to agree 100% with Lim Kit Siang's (DAP) take on this event.

"They (Najib and Rosmah) reserve the right to clear their names through the laws. So why have they used the government facilities to take action against Raja Petra Kamaruddin? This is the abuse of powers. There are other channels for the deputy prime minister and his family to take action against Raja Petra - to use civil action and litigation," he said.

Yes, this is a blatant abuse of powers and if anyone says otherwise, it's time for you to get your eyes, ears and everything checked. On the other hand, this is a perfect time to test the two most important institutions with regards to justice; the Judiciary and the police institution. Are they really independent as professed by the government time and again?

Officially keeping the score, I have to say that the police has been compromised, based on the whole "I take orders from above" incident of course. The Judiciary has yet to be evaluated and I'll be waiting eagerly for the moment to come in October. As for the implications and motives for this saga, I would say that there is more to it than meets the eye.

From the government's point of view, if we take on this maverick, we will make him pay for making us look like losers in the eyes of the people. If he goes down, Malaysia Today will go down with him(how wrong were they). An added bonus, bloggers will be more careful (read: scared) in posting comments critical to the establishment. Finally we will have order.

From RPK's point of view, this the most appropriate time to engage the government and bring down the scumbags in them. It is an opportunity to direct the public and government's back towards the dragging and bound to be forgotten Altantuya murder trial. Additionally, attracting local and foreign media attention towards atrocities done by the establishment.

As we can see, both sides have their own plans but as always man proposes God disposes. For now let us be patient and let fate take its own due course, the truth shall unravel inevitably. Either this will be a beginning of another form of Operation Lalang or the significant beginning of a war against the unjust.-NHF

Blog: Raja Petra Kamarudin

To those who missed it, this was aired on RTM on 27th of April 2008

Raja Petra Kamarudin - RTM Interview 27 April 08 Part 1/3

Raja Petra Kamarudin - RTM Interview 27 April 08 Part 2/3

Raja Petra Kamarudin - RTM Interview 27 April 08 Part 3/3

Yes, you didn't read me wrong. It was aired on RTM. Very unlikely you say? Apparently it was part of the new Minister of Information's plan to recognise bloggers as an important force in the community. Now, every Sunday there will be a 20 min programme featuring a blogger who will then shed some light to some issues asked by the host. Guess the name of the show, it's Blog. Simple as that.

It seems that this programme has aired it's first episode a week ago featuring A Kadir Jasin. And for its second episode it decided, what the heck, lets invite Raja Petra and grill him on air. This will teach him a thing or two about messing with the government, so they thought. It turns out that Raja Petra was the one grilling the host, asking questions in response to the accusations and silly questions that the host has asked.

You can see somehow that he got caught in his own trap that was specifically designed and set up for Raja Petra. I bet that more than his pride was lost that night, his manhood too was stripped off him after the interview ended. He can be described as a rookie ringmaster taming the brave lion.

Enough about the host, lets focus on the show itself. I look at this programme from various different perspective. First, it's a move from the government to make peace with bloggers. Second, they want to put words in bloggers mouth, e.g. admiting that the government is now open and fair, like what they disastrously did to Raja Petra. Or finally, they just want to give us quality entertainment (Grill the Host) and increase the ratings of RTM.

Here is the link to the debut of this show:

Blog (RTM1) - Datuk A Kadir Jasin Part 1 of 4

Blog (RTM1) - Datuk A Kadir Jasin Part 2 of 4

Blog (RTM1) - Datuk A Kadir Jasin Part 3 of 4

Blog (RTM1) - Datuk A Kadir Jasin Part 4 of 4

Bloggers are individuals

I am writing this as a reply of 'NST: Bloggers must be fair, (30th March 2008)'.

The Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin's challenge to blogger to face the truth by posting the governments comments instead of giving one sided commentaries shows how little he knows about blogging.

I, myself as a blogger find that blogging is not merely about reporting of an issue but more towards commenting on one. It is actually an avenue for individuals to express their views and opinion on certain subjects that they hold dear to their hearts, be it political or just personal. In other words, we are columnists in our own space, writing base on the information that we get from the Medias.

With the exception of Malaysiakini, Malaysia Today and other similar kinds, most of the blogs reflect the sentiment of the individuals who wrote it. For all that I know everyday or every other day a new blog or blogger will appear. These are individuals with ideas who are not afraid to diseminate them. As a result, the authorities will find it difficult to keep them in check.

Therefore I could say that such issue of bloggers do not give fair coverage does not arise as they are only writing with their hearts just like what the Minister of Information pointed out in his Interview on the same day.

I implore Datuk Seri to use reason and stop blaming bloggers for BN’s loss. It is better for him to concentrate on rebuilding and restructuring the party through soul-searching. Better still, why don’t you write a blog of your own and get a taste of it.

(as in NST 2008/04/04)