KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar announced today that the police will investigate both BFM over its video criticising hudud as well as those who allegedly threatened to rape and kill the station’s presenter.
Khalid made the announcement on Twitter this morning, shortly after DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang condemned the national police chief for maintaining silence on the microblogging site although he often uses it as a platform to order investigations.
“Kes BFM, @PDRMsia akan siasat kedua2 pihak, Penyiar BFM dan yg ugut Penyiar. Penulis Skrip Penyiar juga akan di panggil,” Khalid wrote using his Twitter handle @KBAB51.
[Translation: In the BFM case, the Royal Malaysian Police will investigate both parties, BFM and those who threatened the broadcaster. The writer of the script will also be called.]
After the video was uploaded on BFM’s website and YouTube channel on Thursday, BFM presenter Aisyah Tajuddin reportedly received numerous death and rape threats on various online platforms.
Internet users also urged authorities to take action against Aisyah, accusing her of insulting Islam in the video titled “Hudud Isi Periuk Nasi? [Kupas]” (Does hudud fill our rice bowls?).
In the video, Aisyah points out that even as Kelantan is attempting to implement hudud, the east coast state is facing other problems like its homeless flood victims, as well as increasing drug and divorce cases.
BFM later removed the clip and apologised for any offence caused, saying that it was not meant to question the “desirability” of the Islamic penal code, but that it was a satirical commentary on whether hudud’s implementation should be Kelantan’s top priority in light of economic issues and problems faced by flood victims.
The station also condemned the threats against Aisyah, stressing that she was merely a stand-in cast member of the video and not a regular presenter.
It also said Aisyah did not author the script and the video’s views are not a reflection of her personal stance.
Yesterday, Khalid said preliminary checks found that the video’s contents have not reached the level of being seditious and was more of an individual’s personal opinion regarding the implementation of the strict Islamic penal code in Kelantan.
But he said police would launch a probe if reports were lodged.
In a press statement this morning, DAP’s Lim questioned Khalid’s silence Twitter so far regarding the threats against Aisyah, noting that the IGP usually responds swiftly when ordering probes on opposition leaders and activists.
Yesterday, Aisyah’s father Professor Dr Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi penned a letter published by The Malaysian Insider asking if Malaysia was no longer a safe place to live in if simply expressing opposing views attracted such dangers as rape and even death.
Kelantan, administered by Islamist party PAS, passed amendments to the Shariah Criminal Code II 1993 on Thursday in a bid to enforce hudud law in the state ― despite fierce opposition from its PR allies, the DAP and PKR.
PAS is expected to table private members’ bills in Parliament to remove legal roadblocks in the implementation of the Islamic penal code that punishes apostasy with the death penalty and theft with amputation of limbs.
