Hindraf Sees No Justification In Remand Of Legally Ignorance Ratu Naga Over Negaraku Gaffe

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HINDU Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) founder Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy has expressed deep concern over the recent arrest and remand of pro-opposition blogger Ratu Naga who “appears to lack legal necessity” in the recent “Negaraku in Chinese” controversy.
Editor’s Note: The schoolchildren from a Chinese school in Teluk Intan were actually singing the Perak state anthem “Allah Lanjutkan Usia Sultan” in perhaps strong Chinese ascent.
The Malaysian Advancement Party (MAP) president/chairman claimed that the detention of the political activist whose real name is Syarul Ema Rena Abu Samah raises questions over selective enforcement and further erosion of civil liberties in Malaysia.

“Ratu Naga had promptly admitted her mistake, issued a public apology and removed the posting in question within 10 minutes” defended Waytha Moorthy who is also a Lincoln Inn-trained lawyer in a Facebook post.
“These actions indicate cooperation, remorse and no risk of fleeing, tampering with evidence or repeating the alleged offence. In such circumstances, arrest and detention are clearly disproportionate and unnecessary.”
For the record, Ratu Naga who was formerly the Wanita PKR information chief was detained at the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters (IPD) on Thursday (April 10) and released 36 hours later yesterday (April 11).

“The arrest was made under the colonial-era Sedition Act and Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998,” her lawyer and Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) executive director Zaid Malek explained in a statement.
Political targeting
According to Waytha, the rule of law dictates that arrest powers must be exercised judiciously and not arbitrarily.
In this regard, he pointed to Article 5 of the Federal Constitution which states that personal liberty is protected unless restricted in accordance with the law.
“Furthermore, Section 23 of the Criminal Procedure Code requires that arrest without a warrant be based on necessity, particularly when there is a risk of non-cooperation or obstruction of justice,” argued the former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in-charge of national unity and social well-being.
“That threshold was clearly not met in this case.”
In Waytha’s contention, arresting an individual simply to record a statement is an abuse of police powers and undermines public confidence in law enforcement.
“Arrest should never be a first resort – especially in non-violent, low-risk cases. This approach suggests not only inefficiency but a potential political motive behind enforcement,” he justified.
“It is troubling that the government led by Pakatan Harapan (PH) which long championed civil liberties and reform, now engages in practices it once vehemently opposed while in opposition.”
Added Waytha: “This incident further reinforces public perception of political targeting which if left unchecked, threatens democratic institutions and freedom of expression.”

On the hindsight, human rights activist and lawyer Siti Kasim felt that Ratu Naga – despite her apology and having deleted her video within 10 minutes “only for Madani goon to download and viral it” – has committed an offence of spreading falsehood.
This is given she has arbitrarily instill hatred and slanders to incite racial discord especially in the eyes of nationalistic Malays towards DAP given that she has also drawn attention to Perak state EXCO and Pasir Bedamar assemblyman Woo Kah Leong who was a VIP at the event.
“Although police reports have been lodged against Ratu Naga, I guess nothing will be done at the end of the day,” the Orang Asli advocate had reckoned.
“The entire episode baffles me as we should be proud that our Negaraku can be sang in multiple languages rather than to incite racial hatred even to the extent of involving innocent school children.” –  Focus Malaysia

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