Seven held over sedition, insults at govt leaders

Police have arrested seven individuals suspected of being involved in spreading videos and statements containing seditious elements and insulting national leaders via social media.

Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director M Kumar said the CID Prosecution and Law Division (D5) Classified Crime Investigation Unit made the arrests between Sept 17 and yesterday.

In a statement today, Kumar said the investigation followed the spread of seven videos on TikTok and Facebook.

The videos contained elements of sedition, threats and insults towards the government and national leaders, he explained.

"The first case involved the owner of the TikTok account @zollpatv, who made inflammatory comments against the government and national leaders.

“The second case involved the user of the account @saya_alif5 who uploaded insulting posts against national leaders,” he said.

He said the five other cases involved the accounts @japajafaruddinshop, @HonaKia53, @k_a_m_i_l_2905, @tokgompo and Vincent Naidu’s Facebook account, each of whom also uploaded insults, threats, and statements that could cause public alarm.

Each of the arrests was made separately in several locations nationwide, he said, adding that the courts had granted remand orders of between one and three days.

‘Be prudent’

According to Kumar, police checks found that one of the suspects, an individual in their 40s, had 19 previous records related to drug offences.

He said another suspect in their 60s had been investigated under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

"The police issue a stern warning against any form of misuse of social media or digital content that may incite, threaten, or insult.

"The public is also advised to be prudent and responsible when making any statements or sharing on social media in order to maintain social harmony,” he said.

He added that the case is being investigated according to various legal provisions, including Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, Sections 504 and 505(b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

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