Indonesia Journalist Club Condemns Malaysian Journalist Arrest
Wednesday, 24 September, 2008 | 15:16 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) a journalist organization in Indonesia, condemned the second arrest of Raja Petra Kamarudin a malaysian editor for the popular opposition web site Malaysia Today.

The club's Secretary General Abdul Manan said “the arrest was a form of excessive repression to the freedom of the press. We urge the Malaysian government to release Raja Petra.”

The malaysian blogger was arrested, as confirmed by the South East Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), for the second time on September 12 under the Malaysian Internal Security Act for his publications on Malaysian politics. The first arrest was in July 2007 after a complaint by a governent official on his writings on the blog. Raja Petra was a leading member of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, founded to respond the arrest of former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in 1998 for starting to critize the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

AJI, founded as a response to the government's curb on the local press saw Malaysia as one among countries in the region with the most restricted press.

Elik Susanto