Arrest in Malaysia over alleged Facebook slur on Johor royals

KUALA LUMPUR — A man was arrested in Malaysia on Monday (Sept 26) over a Facebook post that allegedly disparaged the Johor royalty.

According to Johor police chief Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd, the suspect from Batu Gajah, north of Kuala Lumpur, will be investigated under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

“We will be applying for a remand order in court to assist in investigations as soon as he is brought to Johor Baru later in the evening,” he was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper.

He added that the investigation will proceed notwithstanding the man’s apology that was also posted on Facebook.

The particular law has been regularly applied towards online displays of dissent, prompting lawmakers and rights activist to dub it the cyber equivalent to the Sedition Act.

In the same report, Mr Wan Ahmad said that over 10 people have been arrested and charged over social media posts since the police formed a taskforce to monitor social media earlier this year. THE MALAY MAIL ONLINE