Called ‘monkey’ on Facebook, cops nab car salesman in midnight swoop

(Malay Mail Online) – A car salesman was arrested by Malacca police at midnight after he described two officers as “monkey” on Facebook, local Malay-language dailies reported today.

Malacca Criminal Investigation Department chief Assistant Commissioner Raja Shahrom Raja Abdullah said the police detained the 32-year-old suspect at his house following a police report against him, and confiscated the mobile phone believed to have been used in the offending Facebook post.

“A remand order on the suspect for three days has been issued to enable the police to investigate this case,” he was quoted saying yesterday by Sinar Harian, with the daily also saying that the arrest was carried out by a team of police officers.

In a screen capture of the offending Facebook post in Sinar Harian’s report, a photograph of two traffic policemen were shown and accompanied by a comment saying, “Those ‘monkey’ is looking for extra income”.

Raja Shahrom said initial findings revealed that the car salesman was believed to have made the Facebook posting on the same day he was stopped by the officers.

Police believe that the car salesman was unhappy at being asked to stop during a police check at Taman Melaka Raya a few days ago.

The car salesman is being investigated under Section 500 of the Penal Code, with the punishment for the offence of criminal defamation being “imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years” or a fine or both upon conviction.

The case is the latest in which police have gone after individuals over insults made in person or over the Internet.

On September 15, a Twitter user was charged under the Penal Code today for “deliberately humiliating and provoking” Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar by likening him to Nazi military commander Heinrich Himmler.

Last month, a Penang resident was jailed a week for scribbling an expletive on a traffic summons issued to him by a police officer.