Court fixes Monday for RPK's 'freedom' case

Controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin will have another week of freedom after the Federal Court today postponed his habeas corpus hearing to next Monday.

This is to allow the judges to study the written submissions from both parties.

The court is hearing the government's appeal against the Shah Alam High Court's decision to uphold Raja Petra's habeas corpus application and to free him from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

Should the Federal Court rule in favour of the government, the Malaysia Today editor who is no stranger to controversy could find himself behind bars again.

Acknowledging this possibility in a blog posting yesterday, Raja Petra said: "I pray and hope that the Federal Court will uphold the decision of the Shah Alam High Court to free me from ISA detention.

"But if it reverses that decision then we must be prepared for that as well. And if the Federal Court does what I fear it will do, goodbye Malaysians, my comrade-in-arms. We shall meet again, one day, although not in this world but the next," he added.

Earlier, the court struck out Raja Petra's application to recuse Justice Augustine Paul from being part of the three-member panel to hear the habeas corpus matter.

Paul had removed himself from hearing the recusal application but returned to the bench later after Justices Nik Hashim Nik Ab Rahman and Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin dismissed the application.

No to panel of five to seven judges

Previously, Raja Petra's lawyer Malik Imtiaz had argued there were two grounds for the application - that Raja Petra had commented in some articles on the Internet about Paul as the High Court judge in Anwar Ibrahim's corruption trial in 1998; and that Paul, as the High Court judge had dismissed Raja Petra's habeas corpus application in 2001, but the Federal Court later released him.

Malik Imtiaz added that, based on these two grounds, there might be bias against Raja Petra if Paul remained on the panel.

The Federal Court today also struck out another application by Raja Petra to have a panel comprising five to seven judges to hear the habeas corpus matter due to the “complex constitutional nature of the case”.

“I do not know the grounds of the dismissal but I sense, judging from the judges’ argument, that it could also be because they have no power (to decide),” Malik told reporters outside the court after the hearing.

He also said that should the court rule in favour of the government and validate the detention order issued by the Home Minister, it still has no power to order the arrest of Raja Petra under the ISA.

The power to arrest lies with the ministry, said Malik.

About 40 of Raja Petra’s supporters donning t-shirts with “Abolish the ISA” written on it had turned up at the court to show their support.

Parliamentarians like Puchong’s Gobind Singh Deo and Jelutong’s Jeff Ooi were also there to show support.

Raja Petra was however absent. When contacted, the blogger said he did not attend the proceeding after he was advised not to do so by his lawyers.