Harakah editor Zulkifli Sulong was arrested and charged today for publishing an article allegedly written by KeADILan deputy president Chandra Muzaffar.

The said article, which appeared on Aug 2 last year, accused the media for working in concert with the judiciary in the persecution of sacked deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. Also arrested was Prema's Chia Lim Thye, the owner of the company which prints Harakah.

"We will defend ourselves in court," Zulkifli said, when contacted by malaysiakini. He and Chia were both charged under Section 4 (1) (C) of the Sedition Act.

Zulkifli said that it appeared the police had decided to go after Harakah after Chandra's case was thrown out of court on a technicality. During Anwar's sodomy trial, the court issued a show-cause notice to Chandra on why he should not be cited for contempt.

The show-cause notice was issued after Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohtar Abdullah drew the court's attention to a media statement titled "Confession and Conspiracy" which appeared on the Internet on July 31.

The last paragraph of the statement said: "It is a shame that elements in the police force, in the Attorney-General's Chambers, in the Courts and in the media are prepared to be subservient tools in this massive conspiracy hatched by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his cohorts."

Zulkifli added that the arrest of Harakah's printer, Chia, was meant to frighten him and other potential printers of the bi-weekly tabloid.

Chia told malaysiakini that they were confident of winning the case because they did not break the law. "We are only doing business and we have not committed any offence," he said.

Both Zulkifi and Chai have been released on bail but will be charged in court tomorrow.

Last month, Harakah received a show cause letter from the Home Ministry as to why the tabloid should not be banned. The paper, said the Home Ministry, had violated the conditions of its printing permit because it was being sold to non-PAS members. It was given a Jan 8 deadline to answer the show-cause letter.

According to Zulkifli, Harakah had answered the letter, but they had yet to receive a reply from the Ministry.