Editor’s 3 reasons for his absence

(NST) PETALING JAYA: Where is Raja Petra Kamarudin?

While unofficial reports claimed he has left for England, some said that he was not allowed to leave the country as he was a bankrupt.

This was the first time Raja Petra had missed his hearing and, in a posting on his website yesterday, he cited three reasons for not turning up:

– A dispute with the Selangor palace following an open letter to former Perak menteri besar Datuk Seri Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin in response to the constitutional crisis in the state.

He wrote that he was blamed for acting in a treasonous manner and had refused to comply with his family's demands to issue a public apology to the sultan of Perak.

"The sultan of Selangor was very angry and that triggered a conflict between our two families.

"My family then gave me an ultimatum: either make that public apology or else my family would insert an advertisement in the mainstream newspapers distancing themselves from me, which could be interpreted as disowning me."

His response was he did what members of the royal family should do if they committed treason.

He went into exile outside Selangor but did not state where.

– He said recent events, including his earlier detentions under the Internal Security Act, did not give him the confidence of getting a fair trial.

– He suspected a new order had been issued to arrest him under the ISA and that police were looking for him.

"After two ISA detentions, I do not plan to allow them to get me so easily.

"I also refuse to face treason charges that will result in me being sent to the gallows."