MCMC not investigating 'insults' over ‘Spanish Fly’ gaffe
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said it is not investigating alleged insults against Health Minister Dr Adham Baba over the latter’s “Spanish Fly” gaffe.
“(The) MCMC is not investigating and there is no such investigation in place,” a spokesperson told Malaysiakini today.
This came after a lawyer supposedly acting on Adham’s behalf lodged a police report against social media posts and an article for alleged insults against the minister.
When queried about the report, the police earlier told Malaysiakini to...
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said it is not investigating alleged insults against Health Minister Dr Adham Baba over the latter’s “Spanish Fly” gaffe.
“(The) MCMC is not investigating and there is no such investigation in place,” a spokesperson told Malaysiakini today.
This came after a lawyer supposedly acting on Adham’s behalf lodged a police report against social media posts and an article for alleged insults against the minister.
When queried about the report, the police earlier told Malaysiakini to refer the matter to the MCMC. The MCMC had in turn told the news portal to check with the police.
The alleged insults stem from a clip that went viral recently, depicting the minister mistakenly referring to the Spanish flu pandemic as “Spanish Fly” several times before correcting himself and referring to it as the “Spanish virus”.
Spanish Fly is known as a sexual stimulant - purportedly made from chemicals extracted from an insect bearing the same name.
The police report allegedly filed by the lawyer cited two tweets as being inciting - one called for the health minister to be sacked, while the other shared an illustration by artist Fahmi Reza poking fun at Adham.
The police report also took issue with a news report by The Rakyat Post over the faux pas, saying it had shamed the minister.
The Rakyat Post editor-in-chief Hamzah Nazari, in a tweet, appealed to Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah to ask authorities to be “gentle” if they were going to seize his devices from his home.
“Please would you ask them to be gentle as we've got an 11-month-old baby and my wife is four months pregnant. Thank you,” he said.
The gaffe reportedly occurred in April, when Adham spoke during a book launch at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).
Previously, police investigations for criminal defamation had also been launched against Fahmi over caricatures he drew of the health minister.
