Man arrested for sedition over parody FB page
Aidila RazakPublished: Sep 19, 2014 7:19 AM | Updated: Sep 19, 2014 3:27 PM
The sedition crackdown continues, this time with the arrest of man alleged to be an administrator for a parody Facebook account.
The sedition crackdown continues, this time with the arrest of man alleged to be an administrator for a parody Facebook page.
Syafiq Abdul Wahid was nabbed at his workplace at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 3am today and was taken to Serdang police station, said lawyer Michelle Yesudas.
He has been remanded for three days.
Police suspect that he is the administrator for the Facebook page 'Persatuan Kongsi Gelap Melayu', she said when contacted.
"The investigating officer told me that police will apply to extend his remand this Sunday," she said.
According to the Facebook page 'Persatuan Kongsi Gelap Melayu' (The Association of Malay Secret Societies), the page is about a "legendary" Malaysian thug.
It chronicles fictional character 'Ayah' and his gory and often out-of-this-world adventures.
The description on the page reads: "Kisah ayah legend yang sembang kuat… Why so serious? Ni troll laaa bangang…
("This is the story of a legendary godfather who likes to talk big… Why so serious? I’m just trolling, stupid…)."
In the latest post, 'Ayah' recounts how he slapped a loan shark so hard that the outline of his hand is imprinted on his back.
'Ayah' also showed a doctored picture of the loan shark's back as evidence of his prowess.
"Without saying much, Ayah took out my pistol and shot the smelly loan agreement in the loan shark's hand thrice.
"Ayah blew off the smoke from the gun and folded the gunshot-riddled document into his pocket."
The page registered 5,247 'likes' as at 3.30pm today.
Action on netizens
Last week activist Ali Abdul Jalil was slapped with three sedition charges over Facebook postings he had allegedly made.
The Sedition Act is not the only Act used against social media users.
On Sep 9, Facebook user Chow Mun Fai was sentenced to one year’s jail under the Communications and Multimedia Act for insulting Muslims.
On Sep 15, Twitter user Victor Wong (right was charged under the same Act for insulting the inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar.
Lawyers, activists, a journalist, and an academic have been snagged by the sedition dragnet in the past month.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in 2012 promised to repeal the Act but now says the government is reviewing whether to amend or replace it.
He says that this is due to opposing stakeholder views on the repeal.
Meanwhile, commenting on Syariq’s arrest, Bar Council chairperson Christopher Leong said that Malaysians had to “learn to have a sense of humour”.
He believes that Malaysians could not afford to keep “walking on eggshells” especially since the country had a variety of races and religions.
“The way forward is to engage in discourse and hopefully, we will be able to take in the spirit of what is said or done without being oversensitive that we object to jokes and caricatures,” he said.
Syafiq Abdul Wahid was nabbed at his workplace at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 3am today and was taken to Serdang police station, said lawyer Michelle Yesudas.
He has been remanded for three days.
Police suspect that he is the administrator for the Facebook page 'Persatuan Kongsi Gelap Melayu', she said when contacted."The investigating officer told me that police will apply to extend his remand this Sunday," she said.
According to the Facebook page 'Persatuan Kongsi Gelap Melayu' (The Association of Malay Secret Societies), the page is about a "legendary" Malaysian thug.
It chronicles fictional character 'Ayah' and his gory and often out-of-this-world adventures.
The description on the page reads: "Kisah ayah legend yang sembang kuat… Why so serious? Ni troll laaa bangang…
("This is the story of a legendary godfather who likes to talk big… Why so serious? I’m just trolling, stupid…)."
In the latest post, 'Ayah' recounts how he slapped a loan shark so hard that the outline of his hand is imprinted on his back.
'Ayah' also showed a doctored picture of the loan shark's back as evidence of his prowess.
"Without saying much, Ayah took out my pistol and shot the smelly loan agreement in the loan shark's hand thrice.
"Ayah blew off the smoke from the gun and folded the gunshot-riddled document into his pocket."
The page registered 5,247 'likes' as at 3.30pm today.
Action on netizens
Last week activist Ali Abdul Jalil was slapped with three sedition charges over Facebook postings he had allegedly made.
The Sedition Act is not the only Act used against social media users.
On Sep 9, Facebook user Chow Mun Fai was sentenced to one year’s jail under the Communications and Multimedia Act for insulting Muslims.On Sep 15, Twitter user Victor Wong (right was charged under the same Act for insulting the inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar.
Lawyers, activists, a journalist, and an academic have been snagged by the sedition dragnet in the past month.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in 2012 promised to repeal the Act but now says the government is reviewing whether to amend or replace it.
He says that this is due to opposing stakeholder views on the repeal.
Meanwhile, commenting on Syariq’s arrest, Bar Council chairperson Christopher Leong said that Malaysians had to “learn to have a sense of humour”.
He believes that Malaysians could not afford to keep “walking on eggshells” especially since the country had a variety of races and religions.
“The way forward is to engage in discourse and hopefully, we will be able to take in the spirit of what is said or done without being oversensitive that we object to jokes and caricatures,” he said.
View Comments0