WHO DOES THE IGP THINK HE IS? Now, another youth activist arrested for 'threatening' top cop on Twitter

The crackdown continues as police pick up PKR-linked NGO Jingga13 secretariat member Irwan Yahya at his home in Banting, close to midnight Tuesday.

More than a hundred activists and opposition elected representatives have been arrested in the month of March alone.

Jingga13 coordinator Fariz Musa said Irwan was apprehended by police at about 11.40pm and taken to the Dang Wangi police district headquarters.

"He is accused of threatening the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on Twitter. We still don’t know details of the case," Fariz told Malaysiakini.

"This desperado move by the IGP by using his enforcment powers shows he is in fact afraid of facing the rakyat and so tries to curb freedom of speech through undemocratic and unprofessional ways," he added in a statement later.

Irwan (in stripes in photo) had last Saturday tweeted: "Biarkan @KBAB51 menahan kalau boleh semua leader senior Pakatan Rakyat, agar mudah bagi kami mengajar IGP mgikut cara orang muda tanpa sekatan senior-senior Pakatan. IGP, bersedialah."

(Let @KBAB51 arrest all the senior Pakatan Rakyat leaders. It would be easier for us to teach the IGP youths do it without controls by Pakatan seniors. IGP, be ready.)

@KBAB51 is Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar’s Twitter handle.

Khalid replied that police are "just performing its duties to preserve peace and harmony".

"It’s not nice to threaten me," Khalid said, referring to Irwan as "adik" (little brother).

Irwan’s tweet first caught public attention when Malay-language daily Sinar Harian featured it in an article last Saturday headlined ‘Ada yang cuba ajar ketua polis negara di Twitter’ (Some on Twitter try to teach IGP a lesson).

Among Pakatan leaders arrested in the last two months include:

Fariz, who is also PKR supreme council member;

PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad;

DAP Youth chief Teo Kok Seong;

PAS Youth treasurer Fakhrurazi Mokhtar;

PKR vice presidents Tian Chua, Rafizi Ramli and Nurul Izzah Anwar;

PKR Teja assemblyperson Chang Lih Kang;

PKR Simpang Pulai assemblyperson Tan Kar Hing;

PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu; and

PAS Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad. - M'kini