Malaysian blogger held over alleged royalty insult

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysian authorities have detained a blogger for allegedly insulting one of the country’s royals, police said Friday, July 6.

Syed Abdullah Syed Hussein Al-Attas was detained late Wednesday at a toll station in central Negeri Sembilan state after police reports were filed against him for allegedly insulting the sultan of southern Johor state in his postings.

Malaysia’s royals, though their role is mostly ceremonial, are widely revered especially among the Muslim Malay majority, and it is a crime to insult them.

Johor police said in a statement that Syed Abdullah, who was detained together with a 26-year-old woman, was being investigated under the Official Secrets Act for revealing secret information.

Police have obtained a court order to hold him until Sunday and may seek to extend the detention, an official said Friday, without elaborating.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

Syed Abdullah, 46, blogs under the name “Uncle Seekers” and is reportedly a paranormal practitioner.

Rights group Reporters Without Borders has condemned Syed Abdullah’s arrest, saying it was “very disturbed” by it.

“Syed Abdullah’s arrest is unacceptable,” the Paris-based group said in a statement Thursday.

“Government officials should not, under any circumstances, be able to use state secrets as a pretext for putting themselves above the law and flouting the fundamental right to information,” it added.

Under a government pledge to allow uncensored online content, the web and online media in Malaysia have remained relatively free despite occasional raids, bans and criticism from the government.

Major newspapers and broadcasters are closely linked with the ruling coalition, so the Internet has become a lively forum for dissent and debate.

Malaysia has nine sultans, who are the royal rulers and guardians of Islam in their respective states. Under a unique rotating monarchy, they each take turns to rule for five years as the nation’s king. – Rappler.com

You Might Also Like: 

• Factfile: The Higgs boson
• Google teaching computers to mimic human brain
• Broadening our netizenry?
• Science world commemorates father of computer science
• New web domains could include .sex, .app and .pizza