The blogger, identified only by his surname Park, gained prominence among South Koreans because some of his dire predictions about the global economy, including the collapse of Lehman Brothers, later proved to be correct.

Known widely by his pen name “Minerva,” the mythological Greek goddess of wisdom, the 31-year-old Park was accused of spreading false information on an Internet discussion site last month that the government had ordered major financial institutions and trade businesses not to purchase U.S. dollars.

Kim Yong-sang, a judge at the Seoul Central District Court who issued an arrest warrant for Park following Saturday’s court hearing, said the case “affected foreign exchange markets and the nation’s credibility,” Yonhap news agency reported.

Park told the judge he wrote articles to help underprivileged people and did not seek any personal financial gain or harm the public interest, Yonhap said.

In about 100 postings on the popular Web site last year, Park criticized the government’s handling of the economy and made predictions, largely negative, on the future. His writings were sprinkled with jargon that convinced some readers he was an economic expert.

Park described himself in Web entries as a former securities firm employee with a master’s degree earned in the United States and experience in the field of corporate acquisitions and takeovers, according to local media.

His deeply analytical style and sometimes prescient forecasts made Park a star on the Web, earning him the nickname “economic president on the Internet.”

But prosecutors said Park was an unemployed resident of Seoul who studied economics on his own after graduating from a vocational high school and a junior college with a major in information and communication.

Repeated calls to the court seeking confirmation went unanswered Saturday evening.

It is rare for bloggers to be arrested in South Korea, one of the world’s most wired and tech savvy nations. Critics say the case could undermine freedom of speech on the Internet.

“It is as if control on the Internet started as of today,” a blogger wrote on a bulletin board in Daum Communications, one of South Korea’s popular Web portals after news came of Park’s detention on Wednesday.

Lawyers for a Democratic Society, a prominent human rights group, has called for Park’s release and urged the prosecution to stop its investigation.

It is extremely intolerant for the government “to punish those who freely express their opinions and discuss them on the Internet,” the group said Friday.

In a statement, the main opposition Democratic Party expressed disappointment over the arrest and accused the judiciary of paving the way for human rights violations.

If indicted and convicted, Park could be sentenced to up to five years in prison or receive a fine of up to 50 million won ($37,250). Park was transferred to a Seoul detention center after the court issued the warrant, Yonhap said.

Source: Yahoo! & AP

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A prominent Malaysian blogger was charged Tuesday with sedition for allegedly implying the deputy prime minister was involved in the sensational killing of a young Mongolian woman.

Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin, who has not denied that he linked Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak to the slaying, pleaded innocent to the charge, telling reporters that he should have the right to hold the powerful accountable for wrongdoing.

He was taken to prison after he refused to post bail. The court set the trial for Oct. 6. If convicted, he faces up to three years in jail.

“I am not posting bail. See you guys in October,” Raja Petra told supporters before police took him away. “I will be out for Christmas. Don’t worry.”

Dozens of opposition members and bloggers gathered to show support for Raja Petra outside the Kuala Lumpur court where he was charged.

“This is an attempt to clamp down on all sorts of freedom,” said Nurul Izzah Anwar, an opposition member of Parliament and daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The sedition charge stems from an April 25 article that Raja Petra posted on his popular Web site Malaysia Today.

The article allegedly implies that Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, were involved in the 2006 killing in Malaysia of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a 28-year-old Mongolian interpreter.

Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of Najib, is charged with abetting the murder. Two policemen have been accused of killing her and destroying her body with explosives in a jungle clearing. The trial of the three men began in June 2007 and is under way.

The prosecution contends that Abdul Razak had the woman killed because she pestered him for money after he ended their affair.

Prosecutors said Raja Petra “published a seditious article … which contains seditious sentences,” including allegations that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is covering up evidence implicating Najib in the killing.

Raja Petra said he was not worried by the sedition charge and suggested he had evidence against the leaders.

“I am happy. We bloggers have declared war on the government. We are not scared of the government. The government should be scared of us,” he told reporters.

“Is it seditious to influence people against corrupt leaders? There is nothing seditious,” he said. “Do you think I do not have evidence?”

Some of Malaysia’s most popular blogs offer strongly anti-government commentaries and present themselves as a substitute for mainstream media, which are controlled by political parties or closely linked to them.

Yahoo