KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu has been called up by the police over a video announcing a series of flashmobs to protest price hikes in the country.
The Kota Raja MP popularly known as Mat Sabu was called in for questioning at the Bukit Aman police headquarters around 11.15am yesterday, with the entire session lasting some two hours, his lawyer Faiz Fadzil said in a statement in a statement on Mohamad's official Facebook page.
"Investigations are underway for Section 505(b) of the Penal Code for allegedly publishing or circulating any statement with intent to cause fear or alarm to the public, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) for allegedly abusing network facilities," Faiz wrote.
Faiz said he accompanied the Opposition lawmaker for the police questioning, and added that Mohamad's handphone was also confiscated in the process despite their objections that it was unreasonable to do so because the video has no link to the latter's device.
The lawyer said he was subsequently instructed to take legal action against the police for alleged breach of privacy and justice as enshrined under the Federal Constitution.
In a later posting the same day, Faiz said Mohamad's phone was returned to his client but they believed attempts were made by the police to extract data from the device.
On July 16, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah advised the public to stay away from any public demonstration that breaches the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.
He said police were aware of calls enjoining Malaysians to participate in a flashmob near Parliament that same day to protest the rising prices of goods and promised stern action against participants and organisers who disobeyed the law.
