Malaysian blogger banged up

HUMAN RIGHTS groups are furious that the Malaysian government has arrested an opposition politician, a prominent blogger and a journalist.

Inspector Knacker of the KL Yard arrested the three under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for detention without trial.

It has been used against people the government does not like and follows the humiliation of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in the recent elections.

One of the first arrested was Malaysia's leading blogger, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who has targeted government figures on his web site, Malaysia Today.

He has already been charged with sedition and defamation after linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife to the sensational murder of a Mongolian woman.

However Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the arrest was because Raja had penned articles that had insulted Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

Tan Hoon Cheng, a reporter for the Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily News, was also arrested after she dared to report a ruling party member who called the ethnic Chinese community "squatters".

Teresa Kok, a lawmaker from the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party was also arrested and is finding herself charged with allegations that she complained about the noise of morning prayers at a mosque in her electorate.

Since these charges are so obviously bogus we suggest that the Malaysians come up with something more creative and amusing. We want to see charges like " wearing a loud shirt in a built up area"; "Looking at coppers in a funny way", and "telling an unfunny joke to a person in such a manner that they might repeat it". µ

L'Inq
AP