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Thursday, April 23, 2009

Raja Petra: Kenapa saya terpaksa menghilangkan diri - TVAntara

Bloger Raja Petra Kamaruddin hari ini berkata beliau terpaksa “menghilangkan diri” buat sementara kerana percaya dirinya akan ditahan di bawah Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri untuk kali ketiga.

Raja Petra juga berkata beliau bertelingkah dengan Sultan Selangor berhubung pendiriannya bersabit kemelut politik di Perak dan telah bertindak keluar dari negeri itu. .

Blogger popular itu berkata, sebagai seorang kerabat diraja Selangor, beliau memutuskan untuk keluar dari Selangor, selaras dengan hukuman ke atas kerabat negeri yang dianggap derhaka kepada Sultan.

Atas dua sebab itu, Raja Petra berkata beliau tidak dapat hadir di Mahkamah Sesyen Petaling Jaya hari ini untuk membolehkan kerajaan mendakwanya di bawah Akta Hasutan.

Blogger berusia 57 tahun itu dijadual dihadapkan ke mahkamah kerana artikelnya bersabit pembunuhan warga Mongolia, Altantuya Sharibuu.

Rencana itu mengaitkan pembunuhan Altantuya kepada isteri Perdana Menteri Rosmah Mansor dan dua pegawai tentera.

Mahkamah Sesyen seterusnya mengeluarkan waran tangkap ke atas Raja Petra kerana gagal hadir untuk kes berkenaan.

Raja Petra berkata sebelum ini beliau ditahan di bawah ISA bersabit artikel sama. Selain itu, beliau turut menghadapi pertuduhan jenayah di mahkamah Kuala Lumpur kerana menulis fakta-fakta sama berhubung pembunuhan Altantuya.

“Perkembangan masa kini tidak menyakinkan saya bahawa saya akan menerima pengadilan yang saksama,” kata Raja Petra dalam laman Malaysia Today.

Beliau juga berkata setelah ditahan dibawah ISA dua kali, “saya tidak akan memudahkan tugas mereka untuk menahan saya buat kali ketiga. Saya juga tidak mahu didakwa atas tuduhan derhaka yang boleh membawa kepada hukuman gantung,” sebagaimana yang berlaku kepada ahli Al Maunah, kata Raja Petra.


Berikut artikel penuh Raja Petra dalam blognya:

APRIL 23 — After two ISA detentions, I do not plan to allow them to get me so easily the third time around. I also refuse to face treason charges that will result in me being sent to the gallows. I love my life and wish to remain alive a few years longer if possible.

I wish to explain why I am not going to be present in court today, 23rd April 2009. Firstly, it involves my recent dispute with the Selangor Palace. This dispute was due to my open letter to the Perak Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin, which I wrote on 2nd March 2009 in response to the ongoing Perak Constitutional Crisis. My family said I had acted in a treasonous manner and they wanted me to issue a public apology to the Sultan of Perak.

I refused to comply with my family’s demand and instead wrote two articles condemning the Perak Palace for violating the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and for ignoring the wishes of the rakyat. My opinion is no different from that of N.H. Chan, the former Court of Appeal judge.

The Sultan of Selangor was very angry and that triggered a conflict between our two families. My family told me I had brought shame to the family name and they demanded that I attend a family meeting to discuss the matter. However, I did not attend that family meeting and this aggravated the situation.

My family then gave me an ultimatum. I was to either make that public apology or else my family would insert an advertisement in the mainstream newspapers practically distancing itself from me, which could be interpreted as disowning me. My response to that was, and in accordance with the normal action to be taken against a member of the kerabat who durhaka, I went into exile outside Selangor. As a matter of fact, I even missed two recent family funerals, as I could not and would not step foot in Selangor ever again.

It has to be noted that this has always been the punishment for any member of the Selangor Royal Family who is considered durhaka since the beginning of the Selangor Sultanate more than 250 years ago. My grandfather, Sultan Musa, was in fact subjected to that same punishment and it is the only punishment befitting a member of the Selangor Royal Family who has courted the displeasure of the Palace.

This means, in short, I can no longer attend the court hearing as the same is heard in Petaling Jaya, which is invariably within the state of Selangor.

The second reason is as follows:

In September 2008, I was detained under the Internal Security Act for what I was alleged to have written regarding the Altantuya murder and the alleged links to those who walk in the corridors of power. However, I am already facing trial on sedition and criminal defamation charges in this court as well as in the Kuala Lumpur court.

Now, my ISA detention in September 2008 was for the same crime as what I have been charged in this court (sedition) and in the Kuala Lumpur court (criminal defamation). This means I am being punished twice for the same crime and the law does not provide for one to be punished twice for the same crime.

No doubt, in November 2008, the Shah Alam court ruled my detention illegal and subsequently ordered my release. Nevertheless, the government is appealing this decision, giving a clear indication that it wants me back in Kamunting whereby I will face punishment without trial on top of the two trials I am being made to face — which, as I said, are for those same crimes.

The events of late do not give me any confidence that I will get a fair trial. Even if the Petaling Jaya court acquits me, they can still appeal the decision of the court like what they are doing with the Shah Alam court’s decision to free me from ISA detention. And the manner the Federal Court conducted itself during the recent ISA appeal hearing is very troubling indeed and borders on unprofessional conduct.

Finally, my open letter to Nizar Jamaluddin has been classified as treason and the government wants to charge me for treason. The fact that no such law exists will not stop them as they can use the "waging war against the King" law that they used against some of the Al Maunah members, which resulted in them being hanged in the Sungai Buloh Prison in October 2006.

Many of my friends have spotted police vehicles parked outside their house. Others have noticed police officers loitering in front of their residence while some have been summoned to Bukit Aman for interrogation. The police want them to reveal where I am currently residing.

Why are the police looking for me? Two months ago, the Federal Court was in a hurry to hear the appeal against my release from ISA detention. After impatiently rejecting all our applications and refusing to allow us time to file the necessary papers, the court suddenly went cold and nothing was heard from it since.

This got me very suspicious. I did some checking and have reason to believe that a new detention order has been issued and that is why the police are looking for me. If I were to turn up in court today I would never be allowed to leave. The police would immediately detain me and send me to Kamunting and this time I shall not be so fortunate as to see freedom in two months like in the last two occasions.

After two ISA detentions, I do not plan to allow them to get me so easily the third time around. I also refuse to face treason charges that will result in me being sent to the gallows. I love my life and wish to remain alive a few years longer if possible.

Those are the reasons I am not in court today. I shall, however, attend the court hearing when the situation permits, i.e., I am no longer to be charged for treason and I get an assurance from the powers-that-be that the government’s appeal against my ISA release is withdrawn forthwith and that no new detention order has been issued. After all, if the Razak Baginda acquittal was not appealed upon, why am I being treated differently? — Malaysia Today

TVA

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