Help me PM, pleads man arrested after sounding alarm on post-GE15 threats
A man arrested last November, shortly after he sounded the alarm that inflammatory content was being posted on TikTok, is pleading with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for help.
Zulfadzli Halim is seeking the country’s top leader’s assistance in getting an update on his case, saying that the authorities have reportedly stonewalled him.
His story began on Nov 21 last year, two days after the 15th general election.
Zulfadzli (above) had tweeted about his discovery and concerns that hate speech and racially motivated provocative content - including threats of a repeat of the May 13, 1969 riots - were being posted on the social media platform.
Screenshots and screen recordings taken by him and other netizens led to the discovery that at least three of the provocative content on TikTok had been paid for.
However, in a twist of events, it was Zulfadzli that police acted against, probing him under the Sedition Act - allegedly for insulting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
He has denied doing such an act and contests that police have not been able to pinpoint which of his tweets did so either.
He was released three days later.
Zulfadzli pointed out that until today the TikTok accounts he flagged for posting dangerous content are still up and running.
His case, meanwhile, remains unresolved and has become an albatross around his neck, threatening to get in the way of his livelihood.
‘I am at a loss’
Zulfadzli said the investigating officer, who had said the case would be referred to the attorney-general, has gone silent.
Efforts to contact Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Ramkarpal Singh and an aide to Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail have also been unsuccessful, he added.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
Having exhausted his options to get an update on his case, Zulfadzli is turning to Anwar for help.
"I am at a loss. I want to follow the right channels, but I don't know what channels are left.
"While Anwar is listening to this, I plead for his kindness to help.
"It is for me to return to work because I have to enter a high-risk facility which requires Home Ministry clearance," he said in a series of tweets.
Zulfadzli - who was retrenched during the Covid-19 pandemic - expressed his concern that if the case remains unresolved, it will make it difficult for him to find a new job in the aviation industry and provide for his family.
He is looking for closure so he can move on with his life.
"I am not asking for anything strange, I want to follow the process and just want to know the status of my case.
"If it's true there is a case against me, and I don't pass Home Ministry vetting, I don't want to waste my time asking for jobs in aviation.
"I can sell fruit rojak by the roadside. I am good at doing that, God willing, it tastes good," he added.
Night of arrest
Recounting the police action against him, Zulfadzli said he was on the way to Padang Serai for nomination day when officers barged into his house at 11pm.
Despite being told he was not at home, he alleged that the officers searched the entire house, including his daughters' bedrooms, and looked in wardrobes to see if he was hiding.
When police eventually called him, he agreed to meet them immediately and made the journey to the Ampang district police headquarters - arriving at around 1am.
"Throughout the morning, there were no questions except them (police) asking which of my tweets caused a police report to be made, and my phone was seized to assist with investigations," he said.
Zulfadzli added that he spent a total of three nights in a police cell, just for two hours of police processing and questioning.
Having exhausted his options to get an update on his case, Zulfadzli is turning to Anwar for help.
"I am at a loss. I want to follow the right channels, but I don't know what channels are left.
"While Anwar is listening to this, I plead for his kindness to help.
"It is for me to return to work because I have to enter a high-risk facility which requires Home Ministry clearance," he said in a series of tweets.
Zulfadzli - who was retrenched during the Covid-19 pandemic - expressed his concern that if the case remains unresolved, it will make it difficult for him to find a new job in the aviation industry and provide for his family.
He is looking for closure so he can move on with his life.
"I am not asking for anything strange, I want to follow the process and just want to know the status of my case.
"If it's true there is a case against me, and I don't pass Home Ministry vetting, I don't want to waste my time asking for jobs in aviation.
"I can sell fruit rojak by the roadside. I am good at doing that, God willing, it tastes good," he added.
Night of arrest
Recounting the police action against him, Zulfadzli said he was on the way to Padang Serai for nomination day when officers barged into his house at 11pm.
Despite being told he was not at home, he alleged that the officers searched the entire house, including his daughters' bedrooms, and looked in wardrobes to see if he was hiding.
When police eventually called him, he agreed to meet them immediately and made the journey to the Ampang district police headquarters - arriving at around 1am.
"Throughout the morning, there were no questions except them (police) asking which of my tweets caused a police report to be made, and my phone was seized to assist with investigations," he said.
Zulfadzli added that he spent a total of three nights in a police cell, just for two hours of police processing and questioning.
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