A POPULAR netizen and columnist who was arrested for alleged sedition over recent tweets he made has been freed after spending three days in police lockup.
Zulfadzli Halim, who goes by the @bumilangit handle on Twitter and contributes to The Malaysian Insight as a columnist, left the Dang Wangi district police headquarters lockup at around 9:40am today.
As seen in videos on Twitter, Zulfadzli, clad in a light blue shirt, was immediately hugged by his friends and supporters upon crossing the road from Dang Wangi.
Among those who confirmed his release was MUDA deputy president Amira Aisya Abd Aziz, who demanded an explanation from the Royal Malaysian Police Force (PDRM) over Zulfadzli’s arrest as soon as possible.
“Is it wrong for an ordinary rakyat to share information that is going viral on social media, more so when it relates to sensitive matters?” she asked on Twitter.
The Puteri Wangsa assemblywoman added that such sharing was to reject “extreme racial politics” that was raised by several netizens in recent days.
She was referring to Zulfadzli’s recent social media postings of controversial TikTok content that featured racially divisive characteristics such as the deadly May 13, 1969, racial riots and images of weapons, which he cautioned against.
Such content – said to be paid political propaganda – made headlines following the results of last Saturday’s (Nov 19) polls and talk that Pakatan Harapan (PH) was working with political foe-turned-ally Barisan Nasional (BN) to form a government.
In the wee hours of Thursday (Nov 24), Zulfadzli tweeted that he was on the way to the Ampang Jaya district police headquarters to assist in police investigations.
“I also don’t know what my offence is, I was only told that I was being investigated under the Sedition Act (1948) and (Communications and) Multimedia Act (1998) for insulting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.”
Confirming this, PDRM secretary Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saadudin later said Bukit Aman’s Criminal Investigation Department’s Special Investigation Unit had taken over the case, adding that Zulfadzli would be remanded until today.
Apart from MUDA, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar and PKR Youth chief Adam Adli Abdul Halim had also slammed Zulfadzli’s arrest, while DAP’s Hannah Yeoh tweeted #BebaskanBumilangit in solidarity. – Nov 26, 2022
