THREE ARRESTED TO ASSIST PROBE INTO DEFAMATORY CONTENT, INSULTING JOHOR ROYAL INSTITUTION, PM

JOHOR BAHRU, March 31 (Bernama) -- Police have detained three individuals, including a 17-year-old teenager, to assist in an investigation into the dissemination of content on the TikTok application containing elements of incitement, defamation, and insults against Islam, the Johor royal institution, and the Johor police chief.

Johor police chief Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said that the two women and one man, aged between 17 and 49, were arrested in Taman Saujana here early this morning.

“Police received a report from a local man who detected a video uploaded by the owner of the account ‘ratunurputribalqis’ allegedly containing defamatory statements last Sunday,” he said in a statement today.

The content in the post included claims that the Sultan of Johor and the Tengku Mahkota Johor, as well as the Prime Minister, sought advice from the account owner in preparing speech texts.

Additionally, the content also displayed defamatory claims that the Sultan of Johor kept the account owner’s identification documents for certain purposes related to teachings she promoted.

The essence of the post also included accusations against the Johor State Islamic Religious Department of being involved in misconduct and corruption, as well as claims that obligatory prayers would revert to two rakaat and voluntary prayers to one rakaat.

Ab Rahaman said checks found that all suspects had no prior records and initial urine screening tests were negative.

He added that several items were seized for investigation, and the Magistrate’s Court here allowed them to be remanded for four days until April 3.

The case is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1988, and Sections 298 and 500 of the Penal Code.

Meanwhile, Johor Bahru South District Police Chief ACP Raub Selamat said in a separate statement that items seized included a jacket, mobile phones, glasses, rings, necklaces, bracelets, a table, a Quran, scripts, letters, and related accessories to assist investigations.

Earlier, Johor Islamic Religious Affairs Committee chairman Mohd Fared Mohd Khalid said strict action based on existing laws and enactments in Johor would be taken against those involved in deviant teachings.

This followed the spread of several video clips on social media found to contain misleading and deviant teachings, including one featuring an individual claiming to be “Ruhul Qudus, Ruhul Amin, Raja Muhammad or in my previous physical realm, Muhammad Putra Aminah.”

-- BERNAMA