Cops Nab Ratu Naga Over Negaraku Sung In Chinese Claim

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Police have arrested pro-Perikatan Nasional activist Syarul Ema Rena Abu Samah, better known as “Ratu Naga”, over her claim that a Chinese school in Perak had sung the national anthem in Chinese.
According to her lawyer Zaid Malek, Syarul Ema was detained at about 12pm in Petaling Jaya.
“The arrest was made under the colonial-era Sedition Act and Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998,” he said in a statement.
Last week, Syarul Ema came under fire after she uploaded a video on social media claiming a vernacular school in Teluk Intan had sung “Negaraku” in Chinese.
Subsequently, Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh’s aide lodged a police report against her.
In defending herself, Syarul Ema deflected the blame on Pakatan Harapan cybertroopers for spreading the content, claiming she removed the video within 10 minutes of uploading it.
‘Orchestrated controversy’
Echoing Syarul Ema’s argument, Zaid described the situation as “an artificially orchestrated controversy”, which included statements and condemnations by government leaders and MPs, culminating in today’s arrest.
Lawyer Zaid MalekHe said it was not the first time “an artificial controversy” was created to justify or facilitate a criminal probe into statements made by a government critic.
“It is an often-used tactic, which had also been used against Harapan leaders and their activists when they were in the opposition,” Zaid noted.
The Lawyer for the Liberty director urged the attorney-general and government to drop the investigation against his client.
“The continued usage of these laws and baseless police investigations against government critics endanger the freedoms and civil liberties of all Malaysians,” Zaid added. - Mkini

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