The Malaysian Insider managing editor Lionel Morais (left) with MCMC officials at TMI’s office. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, 30 Mac, 2015.Police have arrested The Malaysian Insider's managing editor Lionel Morais, Bahasa news editor Amin Iskandar and features and analysis editor Zulkifli Sulong over a report on hudud related to the Conference of Rulers.
Police together with Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) officials raided The Malaysian Insider's office in Mutiara Damansara and made the arrests.
The arrests came as part of investigations after a police report lodged by an official from the Conference of Rulers last week.
About a dozen officers from the police, as well as the MCMC, came to the office at 5.52pm today.
They spent about half an hour checking an editor's computer, before proceeding to interview Morais, Amin and Zulkifli.
Lawyer Syahredzan Johan, who was with them, said the investigations are under Section 4 of the Sedition Act and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
He said the three editors will be held at the Dang Wangi police district headquarters tonight and police will apply for remand tomorrow morning.
“We do not think that the arrests were necessary as they can meet the police any time to have their statements taken,” said Ho Kay Tat, the Group CEO/Publisher of The Edge Media Group, which owns TMI. “We call on the police to release them immediately.”
Ho said the police officers and investigators from MCMC were very cordial.
“We co-operated fully with them, but could not convince them that there was no necessity to take the three editors to the police lock up for the night,” said Ho.
TMI has engaged lawyer Syahredzan Johan to represent the three men at their remand hearing tomorrow.
The report published on March 25 said that the Conference of Rulers had rejected a proposal to amend a federal law that would pave the way for hudud to be enforced in Kelantan.
The article said that the proposal to amend the law was in a report by the joint Hudud Technical Committee, which comprised of Kelantan state religious officials and those from the federal government. The joint committee had prepared the report on the proposed amendments for the rulers to consider at their meeting on March 11, but it did not go through.
The Keeper of the Rulers' Seal lodged a police report on March 26 to deny that the Conference of Rulers had discussed the matter and that it had never issued any statement on hudud in Kelantan.
Yesterday, Kedah Umno Youth filed a police report against The Malaysian Insider and called for stern action against the portal over the report.
Barisan Nasional MPs also complained about the matter in Parliament.
Over the last two days, Umno mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia has carried several reports calling for action against the portal.
Controversy has broken out over hudud after the PAS-led Kelantan state government, on March 19, passed an amendment to a state law on hudud which was supported by all the assemblymen from Umno.
PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has also tabled a Private Members Bill in the current sitting of Parliament to amend the Shahriah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act – a Federal law – to enable hudud to be implemented.
This has provoked an outcry among some Barisan Nasional component parties, as well as from the Pakatan Rakyat.
It is, however, not clear if the bill tabled by Hadi will be debated and voted on in the current session of Parliament. The TMI article said that without the consent of the Conference of Rulers, it will not be possible for Hadi’s bill to be made into law. – March 30, 2015.
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