PETALING JAYA, July 22 – Four men may dance the hemp fandango after they were charged today with the abduction of Ng Mun Tatt, said to be in retaliation for an insensitive Facebook posting by controversial sex bloggers “Alvivi” who are accused of having insulted Islam through a Facebook posting earlier this month.
The four – Asri Mohamad Jamil, 22, Mohd Mazli Sazeli, 26, Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman, 29 and Agus Hariyanto Mahmod Hosen, 27, – were accused of committing the offence under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961 at Restoran Muneer in Section 25, Shah Alam, at 4.30am on July 15.
If convicted under section 3(1) of the law, they could be sentenced to death, or life imprisonment and whipping.
According to media reports, no plea was recorded and the youths’ legal counsel Nurul Shahida Zainal argued in court that his clients had complained of being injured when they were being detained.
The court magistrate then ordered two of the four accused to undergo a medical examination, news portal The Malaysian Insider reported.
In a statement today, the Attorney-General’s office said that there are two other suspects still at large.
Ng, 24, had been kidnapped on July 16 and assaulted after a provocative Ramadan greeting by bloggers Alvin Tan, 25, and his girlfriend Vivian Lee, 24 reportedly mocked fasting Muslims with a picture of a pork dish deemed taboo in Islam.
The kidnap victim had allegedly been stripped and photographed with the words, “Saya hina agama Islam (I insulted the religion of Islam)” scribbled in black ink on his torso.
The case, according to national police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, had links to the duo’s Ramadan insult and was likely triggered by the widespread Muslim outrage over their tasteless post.
“It was a reaction to Alvin and Vivian’s actions,” Khalid said at a press conference on July 17.
“The scribbles on his (Ng’s) body was apparently because he had written some hurtful words regarding the religion and race of others,” he explained.
“I advise the public... do not make statements that would cause hurt or trigger the anger of other races because you see, if we just let it be, this is what happens... people would take revenge.”
Ng has since publicly denied the link that his kidnapping was related to Alvivi’s post, saying instead he had been taken to extort money from his family.
