MCMC Arrests Yet Another Malaysian For Criticising Najib On Facebook
This time, an engineer was arrested.
By Tang Ruxyn — 31 Mar 2016, 02:59 PM
A Malaysian was arrested by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for a comment on Facebook about Prime Minister Najib Razak
In an official statement on its Facebook page, MCMC revealed that an individual was arrested for allegedly posting offensive and insulting comments about Prime Minister Najib Razak in a post that was on Malaysiakini's Facebook page recently.
According to the statement that was published yesterday, 30 March, the individual is a 26-year-old engineer.
However, MCMC did not reveal the contents of the comment that got the young engineer arrested.
It is said that the individual was picked up in an operation conducted by MCMC with the Commercial Crime Investigation Division of the Putrajaya Police headquarters.
MCMC said that a report had been lodged against the engineer for making the comments on 25 March
A statement from the individual was recorded in MCMC's office on 28 March.
MCMC also said that an Asus mobile telephone and a SIM card belonging to the individual had been seized.
It added that they will call up a few more individuals following identification, to assist in the investigation.
Recent events have proven that freedom of expression in Malaysia is at stake, with independent media organisations blocked, suspended, and citizens arrested for voicing out their opinions
Dancer Bilqis Hijjas was charged for allegedly for insulting PM Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor.
Image via The Ant DailyJust last month, a woman was charged by MCMC for a Facebook post that has caused hurt and offended PM Najib Razak.
The woman had put up a status on Facebook on 6 October 2015, criticising PM Najib Razak for making Malaysia a Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) nation.
Last September, dancer Bilqis Hijjas was charged for insulting PM Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor when she dropped yellow balloons during an event the duo was attending at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur in August.
The government has also blocked and suspended a number of major news portals in Malaysia including, the Sarawak Report, Medium and the now defunct The Malaysian Insider for publishing exposes linking PM Najib Razak to unresolved financial scandals.