An activist has been remanded this morning pending an investigation on two Facebook posts that supposedly insulted Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

According to his lawyer Eric Paulsen, the activist Lawrence Jayaraj is being investigated under Section 504 of the Penal Code for the Facebook posts, which were supposedly made on Lawrence’s Facebook page on Sept 2.

The law criminalises intentional insults with intent to provoke a breach of peace, and is punishable with imprisonment for up to two years, with a fine, or both upon conviction.

Paulsen told Malaysiakini that Lawrence was arrested at his home in Cheras at 7pm yesterday.

Lawrence was then held overnight at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters, after which a magistrate granted the two-day remand order.

The activist’s handphone has also been confiscated, his lawyer said.

Lawrence is also facing charges under the Sedition Act 1948 over his Facebook posts regarding the Court of Appeal decision against the then opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim in the Sodomy II trial in 2014.

He was charged in November and he pleaded not guilty. The case is still pending.