KUALA LUMPUR – Police will hand the case of an activist who allegedly insulted the Pahang regent in a now-deleted tweet over to the deputy public prosecutor for further action.
Kuantan district police chief Wan Mohd Zahari Wan Busu confirmed the decision to The Vibes, adding that police have also gotten wind of Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah’s recent message to not pursue charges.
“We will be referring the case to the deputy public prosecutor for a decision (on the case).
“Looking at the statement (by Tengku Hassanal), it looks like he does not want to prolong the matter, so we are okay,” he said briefly.
Earlier today, Tengku Hassanal took to Instagram Stories to apologise to Noor Jehan Abu Bakar, the head of the Pahang Malaysian Nature Society, who was called in by police yesterday for allegedly slanderous statements against the royal.
Tengku Hassanal said he was under the weather after recovering from a high fever prior to the event and noted that he “(has) asked police to leave her alone”.
Noor Jehan had claimed that Tengku Hassanal and other high-ranking officers were two hours late for the Buffer Zone Ecosystem Restoration Programme – a tree-planting event in Pantai Chenor, Kemaman, Terengganu on July 18.
She explained to The Vibes that she had not intended to defame anyone and was instead venting her frustrations over having to wait for two hours for the programme to begin, adding that she is confused over why she is being investigated as she only shared her experience with her Twitter followers.
After Noor Jehan’s questioning with police yesterday, Wan Mohd Zahari told The Vibes that the investigation is being carried out under Section 500 and 500(b) of the Penal Code for defamatory statements as well as Section 233 of the Multimedia and Communications Act 1998.
The first charge carries the punishment of imprisonment for a term of up to two years, a fine, or both if convicted, while the second involving the misuse of communications networks carries a maximum of one year in jail, or a fine of up to RM50,000.
Previously, Pahang authorities had cracked down on other leaders from environmental NGOs, including former Khazanah Alam Malaysia president Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil, 60, who was slapped with a lawyer’s letter from the state government seeking an apology and RM1 million in damages after she spoke out on deforestation and logging in the state.
The notice alleged that her statements had put the state government in a bad light and subjected it to accusations from the public that “it is a government that is irresponsible, deceitful, and lacks integrity”. – The Vibes, July 26, 2022
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