Activist artist Fahmi Reza is under police watch after he uploaded a sketch of what appears to be Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in clown face, on his Twitter account.
The sketch also has the words ‘ Dalam negara yang penuh dengan korupsi, kita semua penghasut’ (In a country filled with corruption, we are all seditious).
“In 2015, the Sedition Act was used 91 times,” he also said in the tweet.
The Police Cyber Investigation Response Centre (PCIRC) then replied: “ Twitter user @kuasasiswa, you are now under police watch. Use your account responsibly and according to the law.”
Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar was also tagged in PCIRC's Twitter warning to Fahmi.
AccTwitter @kuasasiswa , acc anda dibwh pengawasan PDRM.Gunakan dgn berhemah&berlandaskan undang2. @KBAB51 @PDRMsia pic.twitter.com/2SJ5ABEYkc
— PCIRC OFFICIAL (@OfficialPcirc) January 31, 2016
However, Fahmi has remained uncowed.
“There is no time for niceties when fighting against corrupt rulers, in a country that uses laws to protect the corrupt and oppress those who speak out against it,” he said in a Facebook posting about the warning.
Fahmi recently caught the limelight when he promised to donate the RM50,000 he received from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), after the court ruled in Fahmi’s favour in a lawsuit over his unlawful arrest.
He was arrested during the Occupy Dataran protest when DBKL and police tried to clear the protest site at Dataran Merdeka in 2012.
He said he will donate “every single sen” to anti-corruption causes, and will provide a detailed plan on this once he receives the second cheque from police.
The High Court ordered police and DBKL to pay Fahmi RM38,000 in damages and RM30,000 in legal costs after finding the two agencies had wrongfully arrested the graphic artist.
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