WRITER and blogger, Raja Petra Kamarudin died last night in the UK at the age of 74.

His wife, Marina Lee Abdullah said he died due to a bacterial infection in the blood which spread to the lungs and even the liver.

“May God place him with the spirit of martyrs and righteous people,” she said through a Malaysia Today Facebook post this morning.

Raja Petra, better known as RPK, was born on Sept 27, 1950.

He ran the website Malaysia Today, which publishes commentary and articles on Malaysian politics, and was also involved with Berita Keadilan, an early newspaper for the reformation movement in Malaysia.

Raja Petra, who had been living in Manchester, UK, for the past few years, was a member of the royal family of Selangor and also a relative of Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah.

He received his early education at Alice Smith School and later continued his studies at Kuala Kangsar Malay College (MCKK) before completing his education at Victoria Institution.

He then married Marina on April 14, 1973, and had five children and two grandchildren.

Raja Petra was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 2001 and 2008. — TMR