Three arrested over alleged insults against former Agong

Police arrested three people yesterday for allegedly mocking the former Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V on social media platforms over his recent resignation from the position.

All three are being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, said the inspector-general of police Muhamad Fuzi Harun in a statement today.

The arrests followed police reports lodged by members of the public against the trio.

“Members are society are advised to use social media platforms judiciously and not make comments that are provocative or manipulate the 15th Yang Dipertuan Agong’s resignation to the point of causing negative perceptions towards the royal institutions of the country,” said Fuzi.

Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act, among others, outlaws any action that has a seditious tendency as well as the utterance of any seditious word.

Upon conviction, it is punishable with a fine up to RM5,000 or up to three years’ imprisonment or both for the first offence. Subsequent offences are punished more severely.

Things that are deemed to have a seditious tendency by law include those that “raise discontent or disaffection amongst the subjects of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong or of the ruler of any state”.

Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan had stepped down as the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong on Jan 6, and the Conference of Rulers is set to convene on Jan 24 to elect a new king to ascend the throne on Jan 31.

The resignation drew comments deemed insulting to the monarch and royal institutions and this resulted in Internet vigilantism aimed at pressuring employers to take action against their staff who allegedly made such comments.

Cisco Systems Inc’s Malaysia unit then issued a statement saying that a man who allegedly insulted the sultan on Facebook was “no longer with us” without clarifying if he had been terminated or had resigned.

Power giant TNB likewise said an employee who allegedly insulted the royal institution had been suspended, while the Mediviron group of medical clinics said a Kajang doctor who was also alleged to have committed the same offence had resigned.

The police have named those arrested to assist investigations including the former Cisco employee.

Civil rights activists have previously criticised the Sedition Act as being too vague and prone to abuse and Pakatan Harapan had promised to repeal it in its election manifesto. A moratorium on its enforcement was also put in place pending the repeal.

However, the moratorium was lifted following the Seafield temple riots in November last year in a bid to curb speech deemed to be racially or religiously inflammatory. - Mkini