SHAH ALAM, 7 Nov 2008: Malaysia Today website operator and blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin said he was surprised with the High Court’s decision here to release him from Internal Security Act (ISA) detention.
He said not many people have succeeded in their application to challenge detention under Section 8 of the ISA.
“Therefore, I had not placed high hopes in being released early. It was 50-50,” he said when met by reporters after High Court judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad ordered his release at 3.20pm today.
Asked about his feelings, Raja Petra who was surrounded by supporters, said: “I’m just too tired.”
Asked about the lesson he learned from his ISA detention, the two-time ISA detainee said the court’s decision showed that the ISA could not be used for a political motive.
“I suppose we have to fight all out to get the ISA abolished. I’m not a terrorist. I’m not a dangerous person. I’m just a writer,” he said.
Raja Petra, who was accompanied by his wife Mable@Marina Lee then left the court grounds in a Rolls Royce.
Earlier, the blogger who was clad in jeans and a T-shirt, arrived in a white van at the court complex at 3.15pm accompanied by five officers from the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak.
He had been taken out of the centre at 11.30am.
He was welcomed at the court grounds by his wife and their two daughters, Suraya, 34, and Sarah, 19, and about 100 supporters wearing T-shirts with the words “I’m With RPK” printed on them.
The supporters repeatedly shouted “RPK”. Some also carried banners that read, “We Want Our Rights”, “No to ISA” and “Free RPK. Abolish ISA.”
Joy was clearly written on Raja Petra’s face as he hugged his wife tight.
About 50 photographers from the local and foreign media jostled to snap pictures of the beaming blogger who made the thumbs-up sign. — Bernama
