Police Arrested Malaysian for Unwittingly Wearing a Communist T-shirt

On April 14, 2017, local police officers arrested a Malaysian man by the name of Mohamad Tarmizi Mohamad Nordin who was found wearing a T- shirt with a hammer and sickle on it. Little did Nordin know, this symbol is also a representation of violence and cruelty.

In the archipelago, the symbol belongs to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), a political group that was responsible for between 500,000 and 3 million deaths before the party was disbanded in 1965.

Nordin was arrested in Golden Tulip Hotel in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. Reportedly, he was staying at the hotel with his friend on a business trip. Hotel security claimed to see Nordin lurking around suspiciously, wearing the black T- shirt with PKI symbol on it. After being called by the hotel security, local police officers came immediately to check the facts. Fearing possible propaganda, police arrested Nordin.

They then checked Nordin’s room and found no other items to suggest he was a communist. “Nordin admitted that he bought the T- shirt when he was on vacation to Russia. Additionally, Nordin did not know that he was not supposed to show the symbol publicly in Indonesia,” said Mataram police chief Muhammad.

After being interrogated, police finally released Nordin and confiscated his shirt. This is not the first time something like this has happened. In January, police arrested a woman in Kualanamu International Airport who wore the same T- shirt.