Former Journalist Arrested for Islam Tweet in Malaysia

Former journalist Sidek Kamiso, who was arrested yesterday for allegedly insulting Islam [via Twitter] over the death of Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) spiritual leader Haron Din, is now on police bail after the court denied the police's request for remand.

"The court denied the remand as requested by the police so he's on police bail, but right now he's still in the police station [...] He's not been released as yet, but that's what we've been told by the police," his lawyer Siti Kasim told Malaysiakini yesterday.

Earlier, Sidek was taken to Johor Bharu after he was arrested during an early morning raid at his house in Bandar Utama.

Sidek's wife, Norlin Wan Musa, told Malaysiakini that he had briefly called her at about 10.30am from the Semarak police station where he was held.

"It was just a short phone call and he told me he would be taken to Johor Bharu.

"Lawyer Siti Kasim also told me she spoke to one ASP Leong from IPK Johor, who told her that police would be making a remand application for him this evening," said Norlin.

Recalling the incident, Norlin said four police officers had banged on their house door at about 4.30am.

"We keep dogs so I knew something was not right when they started barking.

"I looked out of the bedroom window and saw a van parked outside. Then four men climbed over our house gate to get inside the compound," she said.

"My husband tried to call the security guards at the end of our street but they did not pick up the phone. We went down when the men banged on our front door.

"My husband repeatedly asked to see a warrant of arrest but the police did not show it. One of them briefly flashed what looked like his ID card but I didn't get a clear look," she said.

Norlin said the police left with her husband after about one hour, seizing his laptop and mobile phone.

She added that she would also be heading to Johor Bharu, accompanied by Siti.

When contacted earlier, Siti confirmed that she had been appointed to represent Sidek, together with lawyer Roger Chan.

"We understand that he was taken to Johor because that was where the police report was lodged. But we do not know who lodged it, or what it was about," she said.

While inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar had earlier declined to reveal the names of individuals investigated over their Twitter and Facebook postings, it is understood that Sidek is one out of the three arrested.

Khalid said the other two suspects were from Shah Alam and Ipoh.

He also said that their postings were made following a similar remark by Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi.

The News Lens has been authorized to repost this article. The piece was first published on Malaysiakini.

(Launched on November 20, 1999, Malaysiakini.com offers daily news and views in English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil.)

First Editor: Edward White
Second Editor: J. Michael Cole