JOHOR BARU: Police have arrested a 37-year-old local man over an allegedly seditious post on a social media platform containing insults against Islam.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said the arrest was made following a police report lodged after a Facebook post containing screenshots of offensive remarks about Islam went viral on social media.
He said the report was received at about 12.38am on Friday (July 24) from a local man who had viewed the posts.
“Checks found that the account owner had shared several screenshots allegedly posted by another Facebook account, which contained insulting remarks about Islam and used obscene and offensive language,” he said in a statement on Saturday (July 25).
Acting on the information, police arrested the suspect at about 1am on the wee hours of Saturday morning in the Iskandar Puteri area.
Comm Ab Rahaman said the suspect has no previous criminal record, and the police also seized two mobile phones believed to be linked to the investigation.
He said the suspect is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, and Section 298 of the Penal Code for allegedly making remarks intended to wound the religious feelings of others.
“The suspect was brought before the Johor Baru Magistrate’s Court, where police obtained a four-day remand order from Saturday until July 28 to facilitate investigations,” he added.
Comm Ab Rahaman reminded the public not to touch on issues involving race, religion and royalty (3R) in any form that could jeopardise public harmony and order.
He also urged members of the public with information on criminal activities to contact their nearest police station, the Johor police hotline at 019-279 2095, or the Johor police contingent operations room at 07-221 2999.
