Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin is in custody under the Internal Security Act for publishing articles on his news portal which tarnished the leadership of the country and insulted the sanctity of Islam, clarified his lawyer Jadadish Chandra.

raja petra to police station on burma doctor sd 040908 04 This was based on the charge sheet Raja Petra’s wife Marina Lee Abdullah received from the police at 4pm on Friday, Sept 12. Her husband had been already taken away by the police at 1.50pm.

Jadadish with four other lawyers met the detained blogger today at 10am at the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

They were meeting to discuss the habeas corpus suit they filed on his behalf at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday to overturn his incarceration.

“We were with him for about one hour and 15 minutes… (And) he didn’t look too good – he is weak,” said the lead counsel.

Chinese language Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng and Selangor senior executive council member Teresa Kok were also arrested on Friday, with the former already released.

A government minister Senator Zaid Ibrahim resigned on Monday over these arrests under the ISA.

RPK's condition

In a blog post by Zorro-unmasked, Marina commented that he “looked drawn and drained but still alert.”

“He has been sleeping on a wooden platform without any pillow or bedding… I informed him that the support he has at home and abroad is keeping us strong and that should be enough for him too to continue to be strong.

raja petra wife marina abdullah meets her husband in bukit aman police headquaters 160908 04 “He has lost weight and his sugar level has dived from eight to four. I urged him to eat and to drink a lot of water. In fact we brought him his favourites - a six-pack coke, chocolates, fresh plums, shepherd’s pie and caramel custard,” she said.

Marina explained that Raja Petra refused the supplies.

“He asked us to take them back. He said that those interrogating him would try to use these food items as inducements to get him to co-operate. He did not want to be beholden to them. They will use favours they grudgingly grant and use these as trade offs,” she added.

According to Marina, like Kok, Raja Petra has complained of unhygienic meals and loss of appetite.

“They come to his cell and harass him at all hours of the day and night taking hourly turns having a video camera at all times. One time they brought a prayer mat and the Quran to his cell and just said so you don’t want this and took it away (while) recording all this.

“Sometimes they just come to the cell every half hour to peep into his cell with the loud clicking of the peep hole to keep him awake… They are interrogating him on all his articles and at this stage it is on his articles on Islam.

“They said he has no right to write about Islam because we (his family) don’t live like Muslims and they were not sure whether we prayed or not as how all good Muslims should,” expressed Marina.