Man held for royal slur on Facebook

By Bernama

Police have detained the man owning the Facebook that allegedly insulted the Sultan of Johor and the state monarchy.

Director of the commercial crime investigation department Datuk Wira Syed Ismail Syed Azizan said the 40-year-old man was arrested here on November 29.

He told reporters that a task force was formed in August after several complaints were received about the Facebook page, which the man was believed to have created after the death of Sultan Iskandar Almarhum Sultan Ismail of Johor last January.

Police seized from the man five cell phones and PDAs, five lap tops and a wireless router.

Syed Ismail said that investigations showed that the man, who is from Kuala Lumpur, was self-employed and was driven by certain ideals.

The Facebook account had the e-mail address [email protected] but the man had stolen the identity of a user who had not signed out.

Syed Ismail said the suspect, a former student of a local university, belonged to a group promoting Islam as a way of life, but he operated the website independently.

“His motive in creating the account was to promote his personal ideals, and investigations showed that he was not associated with any political group,” Syed Ismail said.

A report has been sent to the Attorney-General’s Office for further action. — Bernama