Lim: 'Slipper for Najib' arrest raises questions
MalaysiaKini.com
Oct 15, 2014

Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang has taken issue with the government for investigating a protester for being photographed holding a slipper against a picture of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, whereas the likes of Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali has gone scot-free.

He said that while what the protester did was wrong, the fact that he had been arrested whereas Ibrahim would not be charged over threatening to burn Malay-language Bibles has left people questioning the justice system.

"The arrest of the protester and the immunity of Ibrahim Ali have further highlighted the rank and blatant defects and abuses in the administration of justice in the country, at a time when the Najib premiership is shocking the nation and the world with a ‘white terror’ regime unleashed by a blitz of selective and malicious sedition prosecutions against Pakatan Rakyat leaders, activists and intellectuals," he said in a statement today.

The man had been photographed during a protest outside the parliament during a protest against the fuel subsidy cut and the goods and services tax (GST) on Oct 8.

Police told Malaysiakini yesterday that he is being investigated under Section 504 and Section 506 of the Penal Code, and was arrested on Saturday and released on police bail on the same day.

Sentul district police chief R Munusamy added that it has completed its investigations and released the protester on police bail, while the investigation papers have been submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) for further action.

Section 504 deals with intentional insult with the intent to provoke a breach of the peace, whereas Section 506 deals with criminal intimidation.

Meanwhile, de facto Law Minister Nancy Shukri had told the parliament that Ibrahim Ali’s threat was not meant to cause religious disharmony but to defend the sanctity of Islam, so he would not be prosecuted. She later clarified that the explanation was provided by the AGC.

'Utusan would dominate court time and space'

Lim chided that if the prosecution process had been impartial, the pro-government newspaper Utusan Malaysia would have would dominate court time and space and  head the list of sedition charges and trials in Malaysian courts.

The DAP parliamentary leader also lauded the Bar Council’s protest march against the Sedition Act tomorrow, which is said is “not only historic and memorable but most appropriate and timely”.

This followed a spate of arrests and charges under various laws against opposition leaders, academicians, activists, and a Malaysiakini journalist, Susan Loone, including many under the Sedition Act.

Dubbed ‘Walk for Peace and Freedom’, the protest will take place in Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur at 10.30am tomorrow. Participants will march to the parliament to hand over a memorandum to a government representative.

Gerakan Media Marah (Geramm), a loose coalition of media practitioners, has urged colleagues to join the protest as well.

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