Ruckus over RPK in Parliament - Malaysiakini

By Fauwaz Abdul Aziz | May 6, 08 6:49pm

Malaysia Today's webmaster Raja Petra Kamaruddin, charged with sedition and remanded in Sungai Buloh prison for refusing to post bail, was a central figure in a spate of debate in the Parliament today.

On one side was Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) who, in his speech debating on the royal address, criticised Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor for "abusing the laws" in allegedly getting Raja Petra to be charged for sedition.

Raja Petra, in his Internet posting entitled 'Let's send the Altantuya murderers to hell', had implicated Najib and Rosmah in the high-profile murder case of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian national.

Lim said the quick police action and subsequent prosecution smacked of an "orchestrated" effort and abuse of the laws and government machinery to punish Raja Petra.

"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," he said in his speech.

"There are other channels for the deputy prime minister and his family to take action against Raja Petra - to use civil action and litigation. Why choose sedition prosecution?" he asked.

"Why has the government machinery (in the form of the office of the) Attorney-General's Chambers been used for this purpose? This is abuse of power! That is why we have to criticise this action against Raja Petra Kamaruddin in the harshest terms," he added.