His death was confirmed by his wife, Marina Lee Abdullah, and his brother, Raja Idris, this morning.

“It is with great sadness that I am informing you that my loving brother, Raja Petra Kamarudin, has just passed away at 11.26pm UK time on Monday Sept 9 in Manchester, UK,” Raja Idris said in a brief text to FMT.

Marina said her late husband died from a blood infection that spread to his lungs and later to his liver.

“May Allah grant him a place among the shahada (martyrs) and the soleheen (the righteous),” she said in a post on the Malaysia Today’s Facebook page.

She also said that details of Raja Petra’s funeral arrangements will be announced soon.

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

He ran the Malaysia Today website, which published commentaries and articles on Malaysian politics, which were often controversial.

He was twice detained under the Internal Security Act – in 2001 and 2008.

Raja Petra had been residing in Manchester for a number of years.