Dalbinder Singh seen here seated at a bus stop, was detained last night under the Sedition Act 1948 for allegedly questioning Malay special privileges and royalty on his Facebook page recently. – The Malaysian Insider pic, October 1, 2014.The Sedition Act's latest “victim”, law graduate Dalbinder Singh Gill, is shocked and disappointed that there is no longer freedom to say or write anything, even expressing one's views privately among friends.
"Stating one's view is also wrong these days... it is like we are expected to just go to schools (polling centres), cast our votes once every five years, and keep quiet," he said.
Dalbinder (pic) was arrested by police last night for allegedly questioning the rights of the Bumiputera and the monarchy on his Facebook page recently. He was released on bail early this morning.
He is being investigated under Section 4(1)(C) of the Sedition Act by the police's cybercrime department in Kuala Lumpur.
The penalty for publishing or reproducing seditious publications is a maximum fine of RM5,000, three years’ jail, or both.
The 24-year-old nephew of the late Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh said he was disappointed that he could not even voice his opinions on his Facebook page.
The page is set as private and only his friends on the social network are able to view his postings, he said.
"I did not expect the police to come after me over my Facebook posting. I thought it was about something I had said at ceramahs I participated in," he told The Malaysian Insider.
He also said it was strange that it was a policeman who lodged the report.
Relating how the police had gone to his house at Jesselton Heights, Penang, looking for him at about 8pm yesterday, Dalbinder said: "I was out. They took photos of my house from outside.
"My mother got tensed, wondering what crime I had committed. The officers left after they got my contact details.”
Later, Dalbinder said he received a call from one of the officers, who told him to go to the Northeast district police headquarters on Jalan Patani.
"When I was interrogated, I was told that I was to be arrested. The officers said by right I should be taken to Kuala Lumpur for investigation but they were talking to me in Penang.
"Half of what we talked about was my phone. They wanted to confiscate it.
"I couldn't let them take it like that because I had saved some personal details like bank account numbers in it... after I explained, the police let me delete the information before they took my phone away," he said.
Dalbinder said the policemen were quite nice to him and he cooperated with them, even letting them have his iPad for investigation purposes.
"They wanted to know what devices I used to go online, so I just told them. No point wasting time. Now the police have both my Apples," he said, referring to his iPhone and iPad.
Dalbinder said nothing much was recorded during his interrogation as he did not want to talk about his posting without having a lawyer with him.
"They asked a couple of questions about the posting but I did not answer. I only confirmed that the Facebook account was mine."
Dalbinder, who studied law in England, said the police should halt its sedition crackdown now that the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court has allowed law professor Dr Azmi Sharom to challenge the constitutionality of the Sedition Act 1948 at the High Court.
"Dr Azmi has a good case. I think the police should stop investigating people for sedition until the court has made its decision."
While he believed the sedition crackdown would drag on, Dalbinder said he would carry on with his life and see what happens next.
“But I won't run away, I am not like Alvin Tan. I will face the consequences."
Tan, 26, is currently a fugitive, wanted by the police since he skipped bail and fled to the United States to seek asylum.
He attracted controversy with her former partner Vivian Lee, 25, when they blogged about their sex life and later posted a Ramadhan greeting with pork dish “bak kut teh" that offended Muslims. The duo faced multiple charges over the two incidents.
Tan is now in hot soup again and wanted for sedition after he allegedly remarked in Facebook that Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was “the closest thing to true evil” and referred to Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar as German nazi commander Heinrich Himmler.
- TMI
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