Arrested Malaysian blogger to be freed

From Justin Zipser

After a Malaysian court hearing yesterday, a blogger in the country will finally be released today after being detained by the Malaysian government since September 12th, CNN.com reports. The blogger, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, 58, is the editor of popular political and social issue blog, Malaysia Today. He was arrested in September because of specific anti-governmental posts on the site and was accused of threatening public security and causing racial tension by publishing "writings that ridiculed Islam in this Muslim-majority country."

Kamaruddin was held under the Internal Security Act, which allows the Malaysian government to detain anyone for a two-year period without even placing a charge. Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad, the Shah Alam High Court Justice, ruled that the home minister acted outside his powers when he detained Kamaruddin because the arrest was unlawful and was made on insufficient grounds.

While people in our own country are pretty much allowed to blog about anything they wish, it's very interesting to see the restrictions placed on these type of things overseas (especially in Asia). Things deemed acceptable to view on the Internet is very restricted in Asia, and because the government has power, they can pretty much restrict any bad press on a whim. However, because a third party stepped in to say that the government went too far, it may prove hopeful for the estimated 700 political bloggers in Malaysia to write their true feelings without fear of oppression.