The government has been urged by the US-based Human Rights Watch to drop its case against online newspaper malaysiakini for publishing an allegedly "seditious" letter over sensitive racial issues.

The authorities announced this week that the results of a nine-month investigation into malaysiakini had been forwarded to the attorney general for a decision on whether to prosecute.

" Malaysiakini is one of the few independent media voices in Malaysia," said Brad Adams, executive director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch.

"The government has been investigating malaysiakini for almost ten months for simply posting a political letter. It's time to close the case and move on."

The raid

The Jan 9 letter criticised government policies favouring the Malay majority over ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, prompting ruling party officials to call for the paper to be prosecuted for sedition.

Police raided malaysiakini 's offices on Jan 20 and confiscated 15 computers and four servers. Most of the equipment had been returned but two computers were still held for possible use in court as evidence, Human Rights Watch said.

"The Malaysian government has frequently stated that it will not censor the Internet, in part to attract international investment to its high-technology sector," the statement said.

It described malaysiakini as "one of a handful of print and online publications that offer an alternative view to Malaysia's largely pro-government mainstream media."

"This controversy is not just about the staff of malaysiakini ," said Adams. "It's about the right of all Malaysians to receive news and opinion unfiltered by the government." - AFP

Click here for more on the Jan 20 police raid on malaysiakini .