Raja Petra, a vocal government critic who had been in detention since September, wept and embraced his family after being freed by the Shah Alam High Court.

'I'm really glad it's over. I'm really tired. The judge's decision proves that there was no justification for my detention,' he said, calling for an end to the Internal Security Act (ISA) which allows for detention without trial.

'We have to fight all out and get the ISA abolished,' he told reporters.

Looking haggard and dressed in a brown T-shirt and jeans, Raja Petra was garlanded by dozens of supporters outside the court before stepping into a maroon Rolls-Royce provided by a supporter to take him home.

The government has accused Raja Petra, 58, founder of the popular Malaysia Today website, of threatening public security and inciting ethnic tensions by publishing writings that ridiculed Islam in the Muslim-majority country.

He also infuriated authorities by publishing numerous allegations of wrongdoing by government leaders on his website. The government has denounced most of his claims as lies.

His lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said the High Court ruled that Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar had acted outside his powers by ordering his client to serve two years in detention without trial.

'The judge ruled that the circumstances which existed at the time that Raja Petra was detained did not satisfy the threshold conditions under the ISA,' the lawyer told AFP.

Mr Malik said it was the first time a court has ordered the release of an ISA detainee since 1989, when courts were barred from interfering once a detention order has been signed by the Home Minister.

'It is certainly an historic ruling and a profound moment for civil liberties in this country,' he said, while adding that the government can appeal the decision.

Asked later to respond to the court's decision, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid told reporters: 'That is the decision of the court. So, if he is released, it's the right of the court.'

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG