Pua investigated for sedition over ‘Royal, my foot’ tweet

The MP gives his statement at Bukit Aman over a tweet that he insists was not insulting royalty but only an expression of his anger.

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP’s Tony Pua is being investigated under the Sedition Act for a tweet he posted last week that was alleged to be offensive to royalty in the country.

Pua’s lawyer, Gobind Singh Deo confirmed this after his client, who is the MP for Petaling Jaya Utara, had his statement recorded today at Bukit Aman.

“However we are unable to confirm which section he is being investigated under,” Gobind said, adding that Pua was neither arrested nor remanded.

Also present with him was Pua’s DAP colleagues, Lim Lip Eng (Segambut MP) and Teo Nie Ching (Kulai MP).

Pua said the investigating officer, ASP Chay, had requested for him to surrender his laptop and added, “I will provide my laptop to them.”

In the controversial March 16 tweet, Pua had posted: ”bastards. Real bastards. Royal my foot!”, in reference to the arrest of Nurul Izzah, the MP for Lembah Pantai, for a speech she delivered in Parliament that was allegedly seditious.

Pua’s tweet caught the eye of Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, who on the same day questioned if Pua was insulting the royalty in the country.

Pua, on his part, has insisted the remark had nothing to do with the country’s royalty but was only an expression of his anger. “I am just expressing my anger on Nurul Izzah’s arrest,” he said.