KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 ― The provocative banners that were discovered earlier today in Pandamaran, Klang are being investigated under the Sedition Act and two individuals have been arrested over the incident, police confirmed today.
When contacted by Malay Mail, Klang Selatan district police chief ACP Shamsul Amar Ramli confirmed the case and said it was being probed under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948.
The offence of committing sedition under Section 4(1) is punishable by a maximum fine of RM5,000, a maximum three-year jail term or both for the first time it is committed.
Earlier today, Pandamaran state assemblyman Tony Leong confirmed to Malay Mail that he had lodged a police report over his sighting of about 20 banners with racial messages around Pandamaran, following a tip-off from a Pandamaran resident.
The provocative banners in Pandamaran, which Leong said have since been removed by the Klang municipal council (MPK), were stated in the police report as featuring five varying messages warning against the alleged challenging of Islam, Malay rulers and Malay superiority.
The police report was lodged at the Pandamaran police station in the Klang Selatan police district, where Leong said a man believed to be involved in putting up the banners was caught and handed over to the police, while several others were said to have escaped on motorcycles.
Leong also confirmed the authenticity of a video shared by a Malay Mail reader, affirming that the man being confronted in the video over a provocative banner was the same individual who had been caught.
The video showed a man claiming that he did not know about a banner, which carried one of the messages that was reported to the police.
The video showed a road sign stating Jalan Jambu Laut, which is located in Pandamaran in the Klang district.
The location is about 28 kilometres to 36 kilometres away from the Kg Dato Harun KTM Komuter station in Petaling Jaya, where Malay Mail had earlier today spotted similar provocative banners.
After a query, KTM Berhad has confirmed to Malay Mail tonight that the banners have since been removed from the railway station.
Police have yet to confirm any investigation over the Petaling Jaya banners.
Apart from the provocative messages, all the banners featured the photograph of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Muhammad V as well as the crossed-out faces of DAP's Damansara MP Tony Pua and Human Rights Party Malaysia's president P. Uthayakumar.
It is unclear why Pua and Uthayakumar were targeted in the banners.
