KUALA LUMPUR – Artist-activist Fahmi Reza, who was arrested yesterday over a Spotify playlist deemed seditious and insulting to the queen, will be released this evening after the magistrate only granted a one-day remand.
His lawyer, Yohendra Nadarajan, said the remand order was issued by magistrate Nitya Ravindran at the Dangi Wangi district police headquarters’ remand centre this morning.
The police had initially applied for a four-day remand beginning yesterday, but was rejected.
“Fahmi is in good spirits, everything’s good,” Yohendra told The Vibes. “He should be out around 5pm or 6pm.”
In a handwritten note by Fahmi to fellow Malaysians shared by Yohendra, the graphic artist said it is important that expression through art be defended at all cost.
“In a country where a graphic designer is being censored, arrested and held for his artwork, it is extremely important that creative expressions – parodies and satire as a form of protest – be defended and continue to be practised,” the note read.
Yohendra said the police will continue taking Fahmi’s statement today and will only discuss the next course of action once he is released from custody.
Fahmi’s remand today comes amid strong protests from various quarters demanding his immediate release. Yesterday, several civil society activists held a candlelight vigil outside the Dang Wangi police station.
Today, dozens of people gathered at the same location in solidarity with the graphic artist, many carrying placards crying injustice and protesting the use of the Sedition Act, while others appeared to rap the royal institution.
Fahmi was detained at his house here yesterday, just days after promoting his “This Is Dengki Ke” Spotify playlist on Facebook, believed to be a satirical take on a recent Instagram comment by the Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah.
Her Majesty had made the comment “Dengki ke? (Are you jealous?)” on April 19 after a netizen asked whether chefs at the palace have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
This came on the back of an Asia Sentinel report last week accusing the royal family of hoarding 2,000 doses of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine, which has yet to be approved for use in Malaysia.
The six-hour playlist created by Fahmi features 101 tracks, mostly songs that include the word “jealous” or “dengki” in their titles. The last track on the playlist is God Save the Queen by punk rock band Sex Pistols.
Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Huzir Mohamed had said in a statement last night that Fahmi is being investigated by the Classified Criminal Investigation Unit under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
The latter deals with the improper use of network facilities or services, among others. – The Vibes, April 24, 2021
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