KUCHING, Nov 9 — Police arrested today a man suspected to be the administrator of a Facebook account that falsely claimed that Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem had called for the hornbill state to leave Malaysia.

Sarawak Criminal Investigation Department chief Senior Assistant Commissioner Datuk Dev Kumar said the 48-year-old man was an independent candidate in the May 6 state election and had used an alias “Beng Kor” in the Facebook account “Sarawak Keluar Malaysia 2021”.

“The page is being investigated for offences under the Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act,” he said.

The provision under the communication law deals with improper use of network facilities.

The senior policeman also said 13 police reports have been lodged against the Facebook account, the latest from Mukah, after the Chief Minister's Office categorically denied issuing a statement that Sarawak wished to withdraw from Malaysia.

Among those who lodged the reports were Tupong state assemblyman Fazzruddin Abdul Rahman, who is also a PBB Youth information chief and SUPP Youth chief Tan Kai.

The CM's Office described such posts in “Sarawak Keluar Malaysia 2021” as false, malicious and misrepresenting the Adenan's bid to demand more rights for the east Malaysian state.

It also said that the chief minister had said time and again that Sarawak would never secede from Malaysia, but that did not mean the state could not fight for its rights as enshrined under the Federal Constitution, the Malaysia Agreement 1963, the Malaysia Act, the Inter-Government Committee Reports and Recommendations, and the Cobbold Commission Reports.

The offending Facebook page seeks to rally Sarawakians to prepare for secession from Malaysia in five years’ time.

Adenan is spearheading a movement to restore Sarawak’s status to what it was prior to a 1976 amendment to Article 1 (2) of the Federal Constitution that rendered it to being just one of the country’s 14 states and territories.

Sarawakian Peter John Jaban who leads the Sarawak For Sarawakians (S4S) movement championing native rights has also emphasised that his group has no tie with “Beng Kor”.

“S4S is not a civil movement which wants to see Sarawak out of Malaysia, but wants to see the reinstatement of our rights from the federal government,” he said.