A group of Thai journalists from 11 news organisations have sent a letter exhorting Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to respect press freedom.

The letter - signed by 38 journalists and sent to the Malaysian Embassy in Bangkok yesterday - condemned the Jan 20 police raid o­n o­nline newspaper malaysiakini and the seizure of 19 computers.

"As much as you or other leaders of Malaysia may not like some of the opinions expressed o­n the Internet newspaper, we ... believed that it is to the best interests of any society that the people enjoy the right to freely express themselves," the journalists told Mahathir.

They added that malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan (photo) "should be lauded as he acted in accordance with the norm of what a quality newspaper or media ought to do".

The Thai journalists also expressed disappointment that while the Malaysian government was generally critical and outspoken about the abuse of human rights and the hypocrisy of some Western governments, it has resorted to strong-arm tactics to maintain control over its own citizens and stop them from speaking out.

The journalists are from English-language dailies The Nation and Bangkok Post , Thai-language dailies Kom Chad Luek , Thai Post , Matichon , Khao Sod , Krungthep Turakij , Manager , magazines Nation Weekend and Art & Culture , and Nation News Agency .

Controversial raid

In the controversial police raid, 15 central processing units and four servers were confiscated for "forensic examination" over an allegedly seditious letter published by malaysiakini.

The next day, malaysiakini was dealt another blow when it was slapped with an eviction notice from its landlord PC Suria for having committed "activities which contravene the laws of the country".

The raid was in response to a police report lodged by Umno Youth over the letter written by a reader which the youth movement claimed had questioned Malay special rights and the system of racial preferences.

Fifteen computers have since been returned to malaysiakini in stages, but no word yet o­n the fate of the servers.

Police, who are investigation the letter under the Sedition Act, have recorded statements from Gan and four other editorial staff.

Those found guilty of violating the Sedition Act are punished with a maximum RM5,000 fine or a jail sentence of up to three years, or both.