Several social activists in Penang have lodged a joint police report against the attackers of Aisya Tajuddin over her satire video on hudud law in Kelantan.

Those who felt the video had mocked hudud, in comments made in Facebook and YouTube , had threatened to kill and rape Aisya, a BFM radio journalist.

Northern region Bersih coordinator Toh Kin Woon ( right ) said the attacks against Aisya amounts to "criminal intimidation" as the attackers had threatened to "kill, rape, and shoot" her.

"Even though we can have different opinions towards the video, as a responsible citizen, we cannot tolerate intimidation such as death threats," Toh said when met at the Northeast Police headquarters in Jalan Pattani yesterday.

He lamented that the current environment in the country does not encourage or appreciate diversity of expression and views.

Toh pointed out that local universities also lack the culture of respecting differences of opinion, although dissenting views could be a source of knowledge.

"And now, people like Aisya has to face this kind of threats including sexual harassment and intimidation," the former Gerakan politician said.

BFM radio has since apologised for the satirical video which went viral and has since withdrawn the clip, saying its intention was not to question hudud but to discuss its implementation.

‘Debate instead of demonise’

A public outcry ensued with the tabling and passing of the amendments to the Syariah Criminal Code II Enactment 1993 in Kelantan by PAS on Wednesday, with non-Muslim members in political parties criticising the act as a violation of the Federal Constitution.

Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar has since tweeted that a probe will be launched not only against Aisya’s attackers but also the presenter.

Penang Institute fellow Wong Chin Huat said threats against Aisya were "specific and malicious".

He said such intimidation should not be part of the country's political culture.

"We can have different views but do not use violence to pursue your agenda," Wong said.

Wong expressed concern that there are politicians who humiliate others who disagreed with them, calling others "liars and immoral".

"We do not want to see such politics. Although none of us knows Aisya personally, we want to stand up to ensure there would not be another Aisya," Wong said.

Wong clarified that the police report has nothing to do with the hudud law which was unanimously passed in Kelantan on Wednesday.

Culture of disrespect

The culture of disrespecting dissent also came from political elites, he observed.

“Nowadays, people demonise each other instead of debating with "facts or intellect".

"Subsequently, people argue based on emotions and subjective personal views; they use it as a yardstick to judge others," said Wong ( left ), a political scientist and a resource person for the Bersih 2.0 electoral reform movement.

"This could potentially turn into something more serious when social media users think that posting nasty remarks was not enough anymore and want to go further by threatening or taking violent action," he warned.

Accompanying Toh and Wong was another social activist Lim Cher Han. The trio urged police to investigate the case under Penal Code Section 503 (criminal intimidation), with the assistance of of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

The punishment for criminal intimidation, if convicted, is a jail sentence of seven years, a fine or both.

The three Facebook and YouTube users who posted threats against Aisha were named in the report, as Hairul Azzua who said, "Burn her alive".

The other two were Facebook user Inche Oleh who said: "Wait till I rape you, woman", and a Youtube user Khairul Azri who said: "If I see you in front of me, I'll shoot you in the head."