Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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(July 14): Activist Mohd Ali Baharom, better known as Ali Tinju, was arrested under the Sedition Act today for making an incendiary speech to a mob outside Low Yat Plaza in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday night.

Kuala Lumpur CID chief Datuk Zainuddin Ahmad has confirmed his arrest to The Malaysian Insider.

Ali, who is also Armed Forces Veterans Association president, was detained at the Dang Wangi police station at 11.30am today where he had been summoned to give a statement.

He has been detained under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act.

Ali was earlier named by the police at a press conference today as one of those to be arrested over brawls outside Low Yat on Sunday night, which followed the theft of a handphone by a youth the day before.

The mob that gathered purportedly went to seek revenge for the youth's arrest in the incident that became highly racialised.

Police classified the case as theft and said they would act against those who used social media to spread lies and sow racial hatred.

Ali is also known for leading a group of armed forces veterans in doing "butt exercises" outside the house of then Bersih 2.0 co-chair Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan in 2012. They accused her of tarnishing Malaysia's image.

Ali was also at the recent Nothing To Hide forum on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was to have attended but did not show up.

He was identified as causing a ruckus, and the forum was then cancelled by the police who cited a security threat.

Outside Low Yat Plaza on Sunday night, Ali had allegedly called on Malays to seek justice and uphold their dignity.

About 200 people regrouped around midnight despite police cordoning the area and clearing it of people earlier.

Fistfights ensued and five people were injured, three of them media personnel.

Aside from Ali's arrest today, police had detained 19 others earlier. – The Malaysian Insider

 

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