Jamal Yunos lodges police report on racist, defamatory poster

SUNGAI BESAR - Sungai Besar Parliamentary BN candidate Datuk Seri Jamal Md Yunos made a police report on an account belonging to a politician on Twitter who allegedly uploaded defamatory posters and fuelled racist sentiments.

His lawyer Datuk Mohd Imran Tamrin said the posters were feared to disrupt public order as it was seditious in nature.

Imran said the statement uploaded by the leader using campaign posters during the Sungai Besar Parliamentary by-election in 2016 was clearly in the form of defamation that touched on Jamal's personality.

"This matter (racist billboard) was explained by Jamal several times during the Sungai Besar Parliamentary by-election campaign because it was clearly malicious," he said during a press conference after making a police report at Sabak Bernam District Police Headquarters on Monday.

Imran said the post on Twitter was also uploaded maliciously and took advantage of the 15th General Election (GE15) campaign.

He said the act was done to threaten Jamal's safety and personal conduct during the campaign period.

"We know as the political temperature rises and it clearly touches on the issue of racism, travel and the safety of our candidates during the campaign period.

"Demography of voters in Sungai Besar for example, especially in Bagan Sungai Besar and Sekinchan, is majority Chinese, if they believe it, it will threaten public order and jeopardise security," he said.

In this regard, he said, the police were required to take decisive action so that the same act does not occur during this election period.

"I also slammed the actions of the opposing parties because these actions show they are immature in politics because they incite racial sentiment.

"BN throughout this election campaign has never once touched on issues related to racial and religious sensitivities, any other things that threaten harmony," he said.

He said the matter should be investigated in accordance with the Slander Act 1957, Sedition Act 1948 and Penal Code (Act 574) in addition to the Communications and Multimedia Act and the Election Offences Act 1954.

Meanwhile, Jamal said, the actions of the opposing party clearly showedthe true nature of the leader.

In fact, he said, the conduct also proved that the opposing party did not have clean campaign capital but instead was purely racist and defamatory.

"They're plagiarizing the old things I didn't do because the billboards installed on Sungai Besar Parliamentary PRK in 2016 have been admittedly raised by the leaders of the opposing party," he said.

Previously, political leaders re-uploaded a picture of a racist billboard poster used in the Sungai Besar Parliamentary PRK campaign on Twitter.

Last Sunday, Sabak Bernam District Police Chief Superintendent Agus Salim Mohd Alias said police had checked the uploaded poster.

He said an investigation paper had also been opened in June 2016 on the issue of the election campaign's billboards.

"The police advise the public not to upload any sensitive issues that could jeopardise the harmony and smoothness of the GE15 process," he said.