Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat activists Tharma Pillai, Afiq Adib and Muhammad Alshatri with their lawyers, July 29, 2021. — Picture from Twitter/Asraf Sharafi
KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — An activist who is part of the #Lawan campaign has been arrested today for investigation under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 while giving her statement at the Dang Wangi police.
According to Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR) who is organising the protest scheduled for this Saturday, Sarah Irdina from the youth collective MISI: Solidariti has had her phone confiscated, and a search warrant has been issued to raid her home.
The SSR has previously claimed that the police had also harassed Sarah’s family when calling her into questioning today.
Malay Mail is attempting to get in touch with her lawyers for more details.
Section 4(1) handles act with seditious tendency which include uttering seditious words and distributing.
If found guilty, one is liable to a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or prison not more than three years, or both.
This comes as three other SSR activists — Tharma Pillai, Afiq Adib and Muhammad Alshatri — were also questioned by the police today.
The trio are being investigated under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code which handles “making statements conducive to public mischief” and Section 233(1) of the Communications and Multimedia Act over sharing offensive content.
Today marks the fifth day straight that the police have questioned activists and participants related to the #Lawan protest this Saturday, and a convoy in support of it last weekend.
The protest planned in Dataran Merdeka this Saturday is calling for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to step down, for Parliament to continue sitting, and automatic loan moratorium for Malaysians.