Perak MB poster: Cops to call up Malaysian street artist Fahmi Reza after receiving order to investigate, says Kuala Kangsar district police chief

KUALA KANGSAR, June 22 — Police will call up activist Fahmi Reza to assist in investigations into a poster uploaded on Facebook and Twitter regarding Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Saarani Mohamad once they have received the order to investigate (OTI) from the Deputy Public Prosecutor.

“So far, we have not called him up because we are awaiting the OTI as it’s the Deputy Public Prosecutor who will decide whether or not the case can be investigated,” Kuala Kangsar District Police chief ACP Omar Bakhtiar Yaacob said, adding that they expect to receive the OTI by this week.

He said this at a media conference after carrying out an operation on the compliance of the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the movement control order (MCO) 3.0 at four factories in Lubuk Merbau, near here, today.

On June 17, Perak Umno Youth chief Mohd Ariff Abdul Majid had lodged a report at the Kuala Kangsar District Police Headquarters regarding the poster, which he described as slanderous and a deliberate attempt to incite hatred against the Perak mentri besar.

Mohd Ariff was reported to have said that the poster, which was uploaded by Fahmi Reza, went viral with the caption “kita dah bagi makan sardin, jangan gatal nak mintak ayam pulak” (we have fed you with sardine, don’t itch for chicken), which was criticised and condemned by other social media users.

Mohd Ariff had said that based on the video at Datuk Saarani’s press conference, he found that the Perak Mentri Besar was only giving an analogy on the contribution of mobile phones by YTL Foundation to the Perak government for poor students.

On June 18, Perak Police chief Datuk Mior Faridalathrash Wahid was reported to have said that, so far, police had opened investigation papers in accordance with Section 504 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 following a report lodged by the Perak Umno Youth chief.

Meanwhile, Omar Bakhtiar said today’s operation, which began at 10.30am, found that the owners of the factories had complied with the SOP.

“However, further inspection found that one of the factories producing noodles and laksa is believed to be using an illegal halal logo and did not comply with proper hygiene practices,” he said, adding that further action will be taken by the Ministry of Health and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry. — Bernama