THE recent arrest of a senior citizen who failed to turn up in court for uploading offensive posts about the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Conference of Rulers on social media has prompted a pro-Madani government digital creator “to plead’ with the opposition front to find him legal assistance.
“Hope the PN (Perikatan Nasional) gang can at least provide him with a lawyer,” teased bumi langit (@bumilangit) in a post on X.
Harap geng PN tolonglah sediakan peguam kat dia ni. Kesian. Masa dia sebar fitnah korang tepuk, masa dia kena tangkap semua sembunyi. https://t.co/nD2hoWRs7I
— bumi langit (@bumilangit) February 25, 2025
“What a pity! When he spreads slander, you applaud him but when he gets arrested, everyone goes into hiding.”
Apparently, the 67-year-old senior citizen, Johari Ismail, was later fined RM30,000 by the Sepang Sessions Court in default a six-month jail term after having pleaded guilty to the charge of knowingly using the Facebook application to initiate offensive communication against the royal institution.
The charge was framed under Section 233(1)(a) of the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Act 1889 which is punishable under Section 233 (3) of the same law.
The law provides a fine of not more than RM50,000 or imprisonment for not more than one year or both and a further RM1,000 fine for each day the offence continues if convicted.
That some witty commenters suggested “passing around the Milo tin” or even mobilise PN’s so-called two in-house legal experts – Siditious (@Solisidtor) and Pejuang’s information chief Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali – prompted the question of whether PAS is truly concerned over the legal welfare of its cybertroopers.
Or does the Islamist party practises the policy of “slander at your own risk” which cynically put it, means that PAS will not bear the ‘funeral cost of the martyrdom’ committed by its die-hard supporters a.k.a. walaun.
Whether it is for making defamatory remarks or fanning 3R (race, religion, royalty) sentiments, PAS’ selectiveness in ‘bailing out’ its people’s representatives is glaring.
The Milo tin was passed around to raise funds for its Kepala Batas MP Dr Siti Mastura Muhammad to settle her RM830,000 dues after she lost a defamation lawsuit against three ‘mighty’ DAP leaders – its retired supremo Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang, chairman Lim Guan Eng and vice-chairman/Seputeh MP Teresa Kok.
However, such privilege was not extended to its Perak state commissioner Razman Zakaria whose faux pas in false claims about Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has been deemed as an “isolated incident” nor does it represent PAS as a whole, according to the party’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan.
Could this be that Siti Mastura is a first-time offender while Razman who is also the Opposition leader in the Perak state assembly is a seasoned or repeated offender?
Recall that last December, Razman was forced to apologise to Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming after falsely linking the latter to the “waving of China flag” procession in Teluk Intan, Perak after the DAP vice-chairman threatened legal action.
In 2023, Perak state Perikatan Nasional (PN) deputy chairman had even apologised to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in court as part of a settlement over his claim that the latter said in a campaign speech that he would promote an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) agenda.
He was also ordered to pay damages to DAP chairman Guan Eng in 2023 and former Perak menteri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin in 2017 after being found liable for defamation. – Feb 26, 2025
