Police say arrest of students over SPM rant within the law

The police yesterday said they had acted within the law when arresting two students over an alleged rant on the history paper of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.

Hulu Selangor district police chief Suffian Abdullah said the two 18-year-old students were placed under remand to facilitate investigations under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1988.

"The two-day remand order against both students was to have their statements recorded thoroughly and to fact-check with related parties, including (checking) the contents of the mobile phone and to get a disciplinary report from the school.

"Satisfied with the progress of our investigations, both students were released at 11am today on police bail," he said in a statement yesterday.

Suffian said this in response to a statement by Lawyers of Liberty criticising the police for arresting the two students on Friday.

He added that the investigation paper would be completed and referred to the Selangor deputy public prosecutor.

The media reported that the police had arrested two teenagers after receiving a report from a 53-year-old female teacher on Friday in connection with a viral video showing a male student in school uniform venting his anger over the SPM history paper.