Hannah Yeoh to fully cooperate with probe over fake statement

Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh has emphasised once again that the March 11 statement for which she is being investigated under the Sedition Act is not made by her.

"On March 11, I was notified of a poster using my picture along with a fake statement that went viral. I immediately made it clear on my Facebook that the statement was not mine and that it was not true at all," she said in a statement today.

On March 11, Yeoh had posted: "Cybertroopers working overtime nowadays. This is a fake statement. Please stop the slander," in regard to the fake post.

"Bukit Aman had yesterday issued a press release informing me that I would be called to assist in the investigation under the Sedition Act, the Penal Code and the Communications and Multimedia Act.

"I would like to reiterate that the statement in the poster is not my own and is false," said Yeoh today.

Bukit Aman criminal investigation department director Huzir Mohamed said Yeoh is being probed under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act, Section 505(c) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

"The police will call the owner of the 'Hannah Yeoh' Facebook account to explain the statement which went viral on Facebook as it has the tendency to be seditious and could disrupt harmony," he said.

The fake statement contains offensive content over Islam and child marriage.

Yeoh added that she is also being probed over a genuine tweet dated March 9 enquiring about the fate of the National Strategic Plan to Address the Causes of Underage Marriage under her successor Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff.

The police also confirmed this probe, saying that she would be investigated under Section 505(c) and Section 233.

Yeoh said she is willing to cooperate with the police on this matter as well.

"I will be at Bukit Aman on June 23 to assist the police in investigating these matters," she said.

Meanwhile, Yeoh's fellow DAP MP Ramkarpal Singh called on Huzir to identify the party behind the said posting first.

"It is elementary that to be liable for an offence under the Sedition Act, 1948, one has to be proven to be the maker of the offensive statement.

"In this regard, it is pertinent to note that Yeoh had, as early as March 11 denied that the said FB post which was attributed to her, was in fact produced by her.

"In such circumstances, investigating Yeoh alone over the said post misses the point that she was not responsible for the same as it is obvious in this case, that the said posting was made by a third party with a view to tarnishing her image," said Ramkarpal today.

He added that the said post was shared on the genuine Hannah Yeoh Facebook page for the purpose of pointing out that the same was not made by her and was defamatory of her, obviously with a view to its removal, and that this is clearly not seditious by virtue of section 3(2)(c)(ii) of the Sedition Act. - Mkini