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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is to appeal the release of leading blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who was detained under controversial internal security laws and freed last week, according to reports Sunday.
Raja Petra was released by the High Court on Friday after it ruled that the government had acted outside its powers by ordering Raja Petra to serve two years in detention without trial.
"I am disappointed but I respect the court decision," Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar told the New Straits Times newspaper.
However, he said his ministry would direct the attorney-general to appeal the decision, the paper reported.
"We need to find out how the court interpreted the home minister's discretionary power" as laid out under the country's tough Internal Security Act (ISA), he added.
Raja Petra, founder of the popular Malaysia Today website, which has outraged top leaders with its stream of critical stories, was detained in September for writing articles that allegedly insulted Islam.
He is best known for his articles on politics, and has already been charged with sedition and defamation for linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife to the sensational murder of a Mongolian woman.
There has been a rash of detentions in recent months under the ISA, which allows for renewable two-year periods of detention without trial.
Critics say the law has been increasingly used against political opponents rather than national security threats.
Opposition parliamentarian Lim Kit Siang criticised the decision to appeal Raja Petra's release, saying the government should instead take the opportunity to review the ISA.
- AFP/yb
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