Odysseus: This is a show of force and power to intimidate the general public. Lawyer Eric Paulsen had already made a public statement that he would show up the next day, so why the need to arrest him at night?This is the sort of efficiency that’s completely missing when compared to the investigation on the shop in Bangi that sold Islamic State (IS) merchandise openly. The police seem to have no knowledge of the existence of such a shop.
Even when it’s made known of its existence, there appears to be no action. Instead the police asked the public to wait for their investigation.
Why can police investigate Paulsen without having to arrest him? Just wait for him to come to police station the next day.
Proarte: Paulsen must have known the consequences of his tweet. To accuse the government of promoting extremism particularly in the light of the world’s revulsion over the Charlie Hebdo massacre by Islamists is highly embarrassing.
More so, if Malaysia promotes itself as a world leading Muslim ‘moderate’ country. Of course, we as Malaysians know that ‘divide and rule’ is an Umno modus operandi and ‘extremism’ is an important weapon in its arsenal.
Umno admitted to funding Perkasa and we know they make extremist comments all the time. To give an example, Perkasa called for the bibles to be burnt and faced no punitive action.
The Attorney-General’s office felt that nothing seditious was intended by that remark as he was merely “defending the sanctity of Islam”.
Now any reasonable person who was not extremist would see the injustice of our legal system which appears to protect extremist Muslim behaviour, which is free to insult other races and religions with impunity.
MingXiang: IGP (inspector-general of police), does Paulsen look like a dangerous criminal that you require 20 police officers to arrest him? A simple phone call to him to report to the police station is all that is required.
Do they ever wonder why we have so many stupid people wanting to be IS jihadis? I venture to guess they may have been inspired by fiery sermons or coaxed by extremists to do so.
That’s what the police should be looking into instead of arresting the whistleblower.
R1: Well, given the political climate and how relatively ‘sensitive’ Malaysians are, Paulsen just gave bullets for people who disliked him/LFL (Lawyers for Liberty) to fire potshots at him.
This also serves as reminder to all folks that freedom of speech doesn’t really exist, what exist is called selective freedom of speech.
Cantabrigian: Paulsen, although I respect your right to give an opinion, it is unwise for you to make such a statement, especially in social media where freedom of speech has devoured so many victims due to misunderstanding and wrongful interpretation of such messages.
And honestly speaking, you will have a tough time proving Jakim (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia) actually promotes extremism, because they don’t.
Be careful next time; it is not worth your time fighting such a petty incident against ‘vultures’ waiting for their prey making the wrong move.
Swipenter: To have 20 police officers arrest a cooperative Paulsen shows that the latter must be a “very dangerous man and likely armed and violent”. I am surprised that the special elite squad was not deployed in his arrest.
Bamboo: This is another clear abuse of the Sedition Act. Paulsen made a legitimate criticism of Jakim allegedly giving out racist and religiously biased sermons every Friday.
There are many IS supporters and fans out there, why not go after them instead of harassing political dissidents.
This abuse of power shows the end of this corrupted BN government is near as they sense they have lose support among the people thus resorting to such an authoritarian act.
Headhunter: It looks like PM Najib Razak is committing political suicide. His enemies within Umno must be rubbing their hands with glee.
But they should think carefully what they are doing. They may win the support of the extremists and ignorant Malaysians, but the rest of Malaysians are recoiling in horror.
Not Convinced: Twenty police officers to arrest one unarmed individual is clearly an overkill.
Will the IGP send 20 of his men to arrest minister and Baling Umno Wanita chief Mashitah Ibrahim for her allegedly seditious remarks during the Umno general assembly?
SSDhaliwal: It is official that PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police) is now taking orders from Umno. PDRM is acting more and more like the secret police of yesteryear.
Twenty police officers to arrest one lawyer over a tweet is absurd and it’s clear now why so many are leaving the country in droves.
Now with redelineation of electoral boundaries in progress, Umno will rather let the country go bankrupt than to relinquish power.
Mob1900: Paulsen made a report of being threatened but yet instead of investigating those who threatened him, he was arrested.
Axolotl: Unbelievable and utterly despicable – but also a tragic reminder how benighted some people insist on being. Only the lowest scoundrels will use religion as an excuse to bully and force others into submission.
Spirit of Malaya: If I say that the BN government is lousy and that it should be replaced by a more credible, efficient and transparent one, could I be charged under the infamous Sedition Act?
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakinisubscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.
These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakinisubscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
