Malaysia Update

PETALING JAYA: The ongoing leadership crisis in Terengganu took another twist with the arrest of a clerk- cum-blogger in Bangi on Monday, believed to be involved in sending out threatening SMSes to three of 10 Barisan Nasional assemblymen last week.

The 31-year-old man is believed to be linked to the group of 10 assemblymen who boycotted the assembly sitting last week after receiving death threats via SMS.

The group had claimed that the SMS had originated from a senior official in the Mentri Besar’s office.

Terengganu police chief Senior Asst Comm (I) Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahlan, who confirmed the arrest, said the man was being investigated for involvement in a plot to discredit Ahmad.

“We are hoping to make another arrest soon. We have already identified the individual but so far we have not been able to establish his whereabouts.

“This person that we are looking for is someone who is involved with the group, but he is not a state assemblymen,” he told The Star.

The suspect being sought is believed to be an aide of one of the 10 assemblymen.

SAC Shukri said investigations thus far proved that the threatening SMS did not originate from the MB’s office.

.Last Tuesday, the 10 assemblymen stayed away from the second day of the sitting of the assembly, claiming that they feared for their safety after three of them said they had received death threats via SMS.

However, there were also suggestions that they were staging a boycott in protest against the leadership of Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said.

The assemblymen involved are State Backbenchers Club chairman Datuk Rosol Wahid, former mentri besar and Kerteh assemblyman Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, Paka assemblyman Zakaria Ariffin, Permaisuri assemblyman Halim Jusoh, Tepoh assemblyman Muhammad Ramli Noh, Mohd Zawawi Ismail (Kuala Berang), Datuk Din Adam (Bukit Besi), Alias Abdullah (Alor Limbat), Ramlan Ali (Jabi) and Mohd Pehimi Yusof (Kota Putera).

In Kuala Terengganu, state CID chief Asst Comm Mohd Fauzi Abduri said the clerk-cum-blogger was arrested after several days of surveillance by a unit formed specifically to track the sender of the SMS.

ACP Mohd Fauzi said the suspect was taken to his home in Seri Kembangan, Selangor, where his computers and related hardware were confiscated.

The suspect had been remanded for four days and would be brought to Kuala Terengganu to facilitate investigations.

In an immediate response, Ahmad said he was relieved to know that his office was not linked in the sending of the SMSes.

“The truth has prevailed at last and we thank police for their prompt action.

PENANG: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng considers the problem between him and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim resolved after he received an apology from the Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser. Lim yesterday confirmed that Anwar had apologised to him for failing to inform him of the resignation of former deputy chief minister I Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin as the assemblyman for Penanti. "I don't want the matter to go on," he said here

PETALING JAYA: The Sessions Court here issued a warrant of arrest against Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin on Thursday after he failed to turn up for his sedition trial.

His lawyer J. Chandra informed judge Rozina Ayob that his client did not turn up in court on the grounds he is on a self-imposed exile from the state for “reasons that are well known.”

“You know these ‘well known reasons,’ so please highlight them to the court,” Rozina said.

“The accused is posting his reasons on his website this morning,” said Chandra.

“You expect the court to go through that, is it?” the judge said.

Chandra then went out to explain that for over a month now, Raja Petra, 58, has posted articles or comments on issues in relation to the Selangor royal house that have angered some members of his own family who have demanded an apology.

On Malaysia Today, explaining why he did not attend court Thursday,Raja Petra wrote, “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 ....

“I went into exile outside Selangor ... . It has to be noted that this has always been the punishment for any member of the Selangor Royal Family who is considered durhaka (traitorous) since the beginning of the Selangor Sultanate more than 250 years ago.”

He also wrote that another reason why he did not attend court was the he did not expect to get a fair trial.

In court on Thursday, his lawyer Chandra added, “You have to bear in mind that he is a member of royalty and this self-imposed exile is a punishment he has handed out to himself.”

His wife Marina Lee, who is also his bailor, was also absent.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Shahidani Aziz asked for a warrant of arrest to be issued against Raja Petra and a notice of showcause for his wife and bailor Marina. The judge granted both and set May 22 for mention.

Raja Petra, a former Internal Security Act detainee, had on May 6 2008 claimed trial to publishing a seditious article on his Malaysia Today news portal on April 25 of that same year.

He is accused of publishing the article Let’s send the Altantuya murderers to hell on the website www.malaysia-today.net.

The charge under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 carries a maximum fine of RM5,000 or three years' jail or both upon conviction.