Member of Parliament for Seputeh Teresa Kok (centre) speaks during a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex in Kuala Lumpur today. The Council of Islamic NGOs today said The sedition charge brought against Seputeh MP Teresa Kok will be a lesson to other politicians not to touch on issues that could lead to ‘racial and religious unrest’ in the country. – The Malaysian Insider by Najjua Zulkefli, May 6, 2014.The sedition charge brought against Seputeh MP Teresa Kok will be a lesson to other politicians not to touch on issues that could lead to "racial and religious unrest" in the country, a Muslim group said today.
The group, who called themselves the "Council of Islamic NGOs", was the one behind the "chicken-and-slap-protest" in February, where it had offered a RM1,200 reward to anyone who would slap Kok for her Chinese New Year video "Onederful Malaysia", which was deemed an insult to Islam and the Malay rulers.
"We are satisfied with the authorities for charging her with sedition. She can be an example of what happens to those who want to stir up religious sensitivities," said group spokesman and Pertubuhan Permuafakatan Majlis Ayahanda Malaysia (Permas) secretary-general Zulkifli Sharif to The Malaysian Insider.
During the February 6 protest, Zulkifli, along with several other Umno-linked Muslim NGOs, also slaughtered two chickens and smeared its blood on a banner with photographs of Kok, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang and Machang Bubuk PKR assemblyman Lee Khai Loon.
The groups said that these opposition leaders had insulted the Malay leadership and Islam. Pertubuhan Kebajikan Insan Bakti Malaysia president Mohd Mokhtar Ghazali, who had joined in the protest, said it is right for Kok to be charged for sedition.
"Opposition politicians should build the country and not destroy it," he said, adding that following this, other politicians will "keep silent" on sensitive issues such as Islam and Malay rights.
"No one would have protested or lodged so many police reports if they hadn't felt insulted."
It was reported that more than 300 reports were lodged against Kok all over the country, despite clarifying that she was not insulting anyone.
Police previously said that Kok was being investigated for making statements conducing to public mischief and for improper use of network facilities or network service.
Zulkifli and Mokhtar said that they will be following the case closely and will only rest after seeing her get the "punishment she deserves".
"We want her to be punished for what she has done," Zulkifli said.
He added that since the matter is now in court, the reward for slapping Kok is now "off the table".
"The case is now in court so the reward is no longer there because we respect the court and we will wait until justice is served," he added.
The group's offer of a financial reward to slap the opposition politician had been criticised by human rights groups and other politicians, who said that it was a threat amounting to criminal intimidation.
However, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had dismissed it, saying "there is nothing to investigate as it is not a threat".
"Why do we need to investigate that? Slapping is not a threat. If they say murder, then it is a threat," he said.
In the 11-minute clip, Kok posed as a feng shui talk-show host and poked fun by asking three panellists various topics, including the education system, rising cost of living and the security issue in Sabah.
She is the latest opposition politician to be charged with sedition after the late Karpal Singh, who was found guilty under the Sedition Act earlier this year for uttering seditious words against the Sultan of Perak at the height of the constitutional crisis in the state in 2009.
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