Last year, a man was taken into custody by local authorities after his Instagram Stories went viral online for threatening to kill the Agong as well as other Royal family members over the Hung Parliament situation.
Making threats or simply insulting the Royals should never be taken lightly but it appears this man did not get the memo as he made the same mistake of uploading a seditious post about His Majesty on Facebook.
A Facebook user who goes by the username SamBanjar Perak posted a political poster on the ANWAR IBRAHIM Facebook page that encourages people to take down Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah if Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim does not step down from his position. The post also insulted His Majesty by calling him “stubborn” for not protecting his subjects.
The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) became aware of the seditious post after it went viral and arrested the owner of the Facebook account. According to the statement released yesterday (Tuesday, 15th August), the arrest was made in Bera, Pahang, and the man has been remanded for 4 days until 18th August.
Bukit Aman Criminal Investigations Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain added that the case is currently being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. If found guilty, the offender will be sentenced to up to three years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to RM5K.
Shortly after the news broke out, netizens shared their opinions on the matter with most saying that the man had it coming. Others were baffled by the idea of taking down the Agong and called the Facebook user out for his extremist beliefs.
Since this has happened at least twice now, perhaps take this as a lesson to not post anything similar without even considering the consequences.
Sources: Facebook, Twitter, NST
