DAP man held over FB polls ‘threat’
IPOH: Things are heating up on the final day before the Perak DAP election in Taiping today.
A party member was arrested yesterday following a report lodged on a comment made on social media, deemed as containing threats against two candidates.
Teluk Intan DAP member Cheah Leong Huat, 48, was picked up at his home in Teluk Intan at 9pm on Friday to assist in investigation under Section 507 of the Penal Code for making threats and Section 223 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
The insurance agent, who has been a DAP member for 20 years, was detained for a comment he had made on a friend’s Facebook post, where he asked members to reject two candidates.
Cheah said his comment was not a threat.
“I wrote a comment in Chinese asking to ‘chop’ candidates No. 13 and 14 and to celebrate their defeats. When I said ‘chop’, I did not mean kill or eliminate. It just means to reject the two candidates as DAP leaders.
“Unfortunately, there were individuals who lodged a report on the comment, leading to my arrest. Police recorded my statement and I was released on police bail at midnight.”
Kampar member of parliament Thomas Su Keong Siong, who was at the press conference with Cheah, said they hoped those who lodged the report would withdraw it because it was against the party’s stand regarding freedom of speech.
Candidates No. 13 and 14 are Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming and Perak DAP adviser Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham.
“Nga had been arrested and investigated by the police many times during the previous government’s administration for being vocal. I am confident he does not agree with this report against a member who spoke his mind,” said Su.
“If the report is not withdrawn, I and several party leaders will help Cheah in legal matters.”
Twenty-four candidates will compete for 15 leadership roles in the state party election.