Keadilan Shah Alam deputy chief Raja Kamaruddin Raja Wahid will soon file a defamation suit against a local English daily and lodge a police report against the police over his seven-hour detention o­n Saturday.

When contacted today, his lawyer Wan M Razali Wan A Kadir said legal action will be taken against the New Straits Times over the front-page story o­n its Sunday edition, which "tried to link Keadilan with a terrorist group".

"The paper was trying to portray that Keadilan symphatised with (recent ISA detainee) Abdul Manaf Kasmuri," he said.

He claimed the report showed Keadilan as supporting the former army officer who was held for his alleged ties with regional terror network Jemaah Islamiah.

Raja Kamaruddin -- popularly known as Raja Komando was arrested after he allegedly disobeyed police orders and insisted o­n entering Keadilan Selangor Youth chief SD Mohd Johari Yassin's residence in Shah Alam where a barbecue party was supposed to take place.

More than 100 policemen, including Federal Reserve Unit |(FRU) personnel had cordoned off the area and set up roadblocks to prevent the 15-odd people from holding the party.

The Keadilan members had initially planned to visit Abdul Manaf's family at their home, which is located nearby.

Procession planned

The New Straits Times report quoted Klang district police chief A Paramasivam as saying that Raja Kamaruddin was arrested when he argued with police officers over their presence there.

It added that the police went to the scene when they were informed that the Keadilan members had planned a procession to Abdul Manaf's residence but this was called off since o­nly a handful of people showed up.

Raja Kamaruddin was released seven hours later o­n police bail and told to report to the Klang magistrate's court o­n March 7.

"People know now there are many terrorist groups, Jemaah Islamiah, KMM (Malaysian

Mujahidin Group) and the report can lead to the public having a perception that Keadilan is with these terrorist groups," said Wan Razali.

The lawyer added that the defamation suit will be filed by next week.

Politically motivated

Meanwhile, Wan Razali said a police report would be filed against the Klang police chief under Section 182 of the Penal Code for "acting o­n false information".

"Paramasivam had acted o­n false information and this resulted in over hundred police personnel being sent to the vicinity."

The lawyer explained that the barbecue was planned by Keadilan supreme council member Dr A Xavier Jayakumar and information about it was sent to a few people via the short-messaging service or SMS.

"The message forwarded among the members didn't touch o­n anything about the assembly, it's purely a barbecue party," he added.

When contacted later, Raja Kamaruddin claimed that the daily's report was politically-motivated.

"I am not happy with the news. This is another conspiracy to damage the opposition and my reputation. The motive of that is political.

"This is a psychological warfare, aimed to make party supporters link me with the terrorist group," he said.