The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, should ask the Attorney-General Tan Sri Apandi Ali to drop the charges against three Malaysians for insulting him as the Prime Minister.
Three Malaysians were charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Friday under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588) which carries a maximum RM50,000 fine or one-year imprisonment or both, upon conviction.
Roti canai seller Mazlan Yusoff, 48, was charged with uploading a posting under the profile name Zain Al Aznam on a post written by one “Dr Hassan Ali”, which was critical of the country’s financial situation.
Mazlan had posted a doctored image of Najib, captioned “Mao Hu Tang” beside a picture of Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
Mazlan allegedly made the posting about 2.53am on Nov 11, 2016.
Meanwhile, Nor Sabariah Abdul Kadir, 29, was charged with posting a derogatory comment on the “Otai Bersih” Facebook page, about 5.11pm on Feb 1, in which she allegedly called the PM a thief.
The third accused, storekeeper Ng Thai Quen, 19, was slapped with a charge of editing an insulting image of Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor and uploading it on a Facebook page called “Kami Benci Najib” (We hate Najib) about 7pm on Dec 15, last year.
Najib should not so petty-minded and should set an example of allowing greater freedom of expression on the social media.
Instead of persecuting ordinary Malaysians for their social media postings, Najib should conduct a soul-searching exercise why he is so unpopular or “hated” a Prime Minister. This soul searching exercise should not involve the mercenary UMNO/BN cybertroopers or sycophants, but should involve the ordinary public, including the three Malaysians who have put up anti-Najib postings on the social media instead of abuse of power by using the Communications and Multimedia act to penalise the trio.
I have myself been the target of demonisation over the decades by UMNO/BN propagandists and cybertroopers, where the most terrible baseless allegations were made against me.
If Najib sets the example, and all those who defame or character-assassinate me through the demonisation campaign on the social media over the years, then we will probably see history being made – with the most number of people charged in court.