Police say will go ahead with sedition probe over Israel ‘like’

A Form Five student's like click of a pro-Israel page has landed him in a sedition probe by police. – August 15, 2014.

Police today said they would press ahead with the sedition probe on a Form Five student who received threats after he clicked on the "like" button of a pro-Israel Facebook page.

Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said two investigation papers had been opened, and the boy would be probed under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act.

Police would also haul up those who allegedly threatened the boy on Facebook for criminal intimidation.

"The boy is being probed under the Sedition Act. Those who threatened him on Facebook will be investigated under Section 506 of the Penal Code," he told reporters at the Seberang Prai Selatan police headquarters today, clarifying reports that the police was not investigating the boy for sedition, but the entire case.

Seberang Prai Selatan police chief ACP Shafien Mamat, whose last day as the district police chief was yesterday, told an online portal that there was a misunderstanding over the classification of the case.

Rahim, however, said the boy was being probed for sedition.

Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act states that it is an offence to print, publish, sell, offer for sale, distribute or reproduce any seditious publication. The penalty is RM5,000 fine, jail term for up to five years or both.

"We are in the process of completing the investigations and have recorded statements from at least five people. They included the boy's schoolmates and teachers," Rahim said, declining to reveal further details.

The Form Five student at the centre of the controversy attends school in Taman Tasek Mutiara in Simpang Ampat, Seberang Prai Selatan.

It was reported that he allegedly liked the "I Love Israel" page on Facebook and his teacher posted a screenshot of what he did.

The teacher's post attracted many comments condemning the boy, with some calling for him to be boycotted. One Facebook user even remarked that the boy should be burned.

Lawyers and netizens have since criticised police for the sedition probe, describing it as an overreaction and a waste of resources. Communications and Multimedia minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek had also described the probe as "unfair".

- TMI