Human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) has called for the immediate release of an individual detained for allegedly insulting a member of the Johor royal family.
Suaram executive director D Sevan (above), in a statement, said the individual had been arrested and remanded under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
"From the information obtained, the individual was detained and brought to the Johor Bahru Selatan district police headquarters for further investigation and was remanded for two days.
"Freedom of expression is a right enshrined under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution and should not be curtailed for mere insults.
"Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 is fundamentally flawed and should not have been used to investigate and punish alleged insults online," said Sevan.
It is learned that cops picked up the individual at his house yesterday after he purportedly made a remark about the royalty on Twitter.
Sevan said such arrests were a waste of police resources in a situation where the focus is to curb the spread of Covid-19.
"It is absurd the police are utilising critical resources during the movement control order to arrest and detain individuals for alleged insults on social media.
"Conducting unnecessary arrests and remand at this juncture is wasting police resources and is counterproductive to the nation’s collective goal of eliminating Covid-19," he said.
Sevan said the investigation could be done without having to remand the individual.
"Suaram calls for the immediate release of the individual as any investigation can be done remotely by the police with statements taken at any time without remanding the person in question," he said. - Mkini
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