Malaysia

Malaysia's leading blogger, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, was released from two-month detention today after a court ruled the government had no right to hold him. Raja Petra, a vocal government critic, had received a two-year sentence without trial under the draconian internal security laws. The founder of the popular Malaysia Today website outraged the authorities and was accused of causing ethnic tensions by allegedly insulting Islam in his writing. Raja Petra was also charged with defamation for writing an article which linked Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak to the murder of a Mongolian woman. (Radio Netherlands)