Cops arrest Ratu Naga for sedition as lawyer slams 'artificial controversy' to crack down on critics

Prominent social media personality Ratu Naga was arrested today for sedition today over a video showing a group of students singing the Perak state anthem, in the latest crackdown on online dissent targeting influencers who are critical of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Ratu Naga, or Syarul Ema Abu Samah, was arrested in Petaling Jaya by a team of police officers from Perak.

The arrest was made under the Sedition Act and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, both laws that the current Pakatan Harapan (PH) leadership had promised to abolish.

Ratu, who is known for her slapstick comments on Anwar and other government leaders, had apologised for the clip in which she gave the impression that a group of students in Perak were singing the national anthem in Chinese, when in fact they were singing the Perak state anthem.

The clip was removed just 10 minutes after it was uploaded, her lawyer Zaid Malek said.

"Despite this, the video was uploaded by other individuals, obviously with the specific intent of widely disseminating it. In other words, it was an artificially orchestrated controversy, which included statements and condemnations by government leaders and MPs, culminating in today’s arrest," said Zaid.

He said it was not the first time an "artificial controversy" has been created to justify action against government critics, adding that many current government leaders and activists have also been targeted using the same tactic.

Zaid said even then, Ratu had not committed any criminaloffence.

"The arrest is thus unlawful and high-handed. The making of inaccurate or even false statements is not a criminal offence under the provisions of our Constitution. Democracies do not punish inaccurate or false comments by the public; only dictatorships do that," he said.

Ratu's arrest comes just days after she was summoned by the Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) over the video issue, as well as three others relating to her criticism of the government.

Zaid once again slammed PH leaders for using the same laws that were used against them when they were in opposition.

"PH must remember that these same laws were used in the same manner against their own leaders, members and activists when they were in opposition. The continued usage of these laws and baseless police investigations against government critics endanger the freedoms and civil liberties of all Malaysians," he added.

Since coming to power in 2022, Anwar's government has come down hard on social media posts critical of his ruling coalition, with frequent requests to platforms such as X, YouTube and Facebook to delete content.

Statistics released by TikTok placed the Malaysian government at the top of a list of requests for content removal during the second half of 2023.

The government has also blocked blogs and news sites for news reports not complimentary to ruling politicians. They included MalaysiaNow, which was blocked for 48 hours.  

Restrictions on journalists and media outlets critical of the government led to Malaysia taking a record dip in the annual World Press Freedom Index, dropping to the 107th spot last year from the previous 73rd spot.