Activist Jufazli called by police for questioning yet again

The youth activist faces a third police investigation in the past year, believed to be over a social media posting about a fire in a squatter house in Tawau.

PETALING JAYA: Youth activist Jufazli Shi Ahmad faces yet another police investigation, this time believed to be due to a police report lodged by the chief minister’s office over his social media posts regarding a fire at a squatter house in Tawau last week.

The founder of the Gerakan Anak Muda Selamatkan Sabah (Youth Movement to Save Sabah) said he was told to show up at Bukit Aman for his statement to be taken at 2.30pm tomorrow.

“The investigation was initiated by the police following a report by Sabah chief minister Musa Aman’s aides and Sabah Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) members based on my criticism about the burning of a squatter house in Tawau, which I had expressed via social media on Sept 6,” he told FMT today.

He said he would be investigated under Section 500 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.

The session tomorrow would be the third time the 28-year old from Semporna is being investigated over the past year.

On Nov 9 last year, he was arrested at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur and investigated for slander, sedition and offences under the Communications and Multimedia Act. He was detained until Nov 15.

He however said he was not prosecuted despite being locked up at the Jinjang police station in Kuala Lumpur and Tawau station in Sabah.

On May 26 this year, he said he received a call from the police regarding a new case initiated against him.

Jufazli was then arrested on June 7 and his statement taken at the Penampang district police headquarters. He was released that same day.

Jufazli was reportedly under investigation for alleged offences under Section 4 of the Sedition Act and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.

The activist, from Semporna, is a vocal critic of the Sabah government, especially in the recent corruption case involving the state’s water department. A former director of the department and two others have been charged with money laundering involving a total of RM61.48 million.

Jufazli, who joined DAP on June 5, had also announced his intention to run in the Sungai Sibuga state seat held by Musa in the 14th general election (GE14).

He had said he was giving up his job as a lecturer at a private university to concentrate on fighting for a better Sabah, and that he would be based in Sandakan, where the constituency is located, until the election.

In a statement today, he said he also expected to be arrested by the police tomorrow.

He said he had never committed a crime and he considered the police report lodged against him to be false.

“My human rights cannot be taken away by the Sabah Umno-BN regime just because they want me to keep quiet about the burning of squatter houses which has worsened in Sabah,” he claimed.

He added that he was certain he had never slandered Umno and BN in the state, saying he had only questioned incidents of squatter homes catching fire over the last 26 years of BN rule.

He said criticising based on facts, rebuking the state administration over defects in its administration, and correcting the erroneous implementation of government policies, did not constitute slander as claimed by the authorities. -FMT