Man suspected of supporting establishment of Malaysia-Israel ties held

KUALA LUMPUR - Police have confirmed the arrest of a 36-year-old man to assist in the investigation regarding his statement suspected to support the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and Israel.

Federal Police (Bukit Aman) Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said that the man is suspected of making the statement during an online interview with an Israeli social media influencer named Hananya Naftali, which was uploaded on a local media portal's TikTok site.

He said the man had been placed under remand for three days starting yesterday until Friday.

"The investigation into this case is being carried out by the CID's Classified Criminal Investigation Unit, Law/Prosecution Division (D5) under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998," he said in a statement last night.

Shuhaily added that as the case was still under investigation, the public was advised not to make any comments or speculations about it.

"The police remind the public to be wise users of social media and not to misuse these applications for purposes that violate the law," he said.

Recently, a video went viral showing a man believed to be a Malaysian citizen engaging in an online interview with Israeli influencer Hananya Naftali, allegedly stating that Malaysia should have diplomatic relations with Israel and requesting the opening of the Israeli embassy in the country. - BERNAMA