The 17-year old secondary school student facing boycotts from his own schoolmates and teachers for Liking a pro-Israel Facebook page is now under investigation for sedition.
The Penang teenager, whose parents had lodged reports to the district Education Department and the local police after he was condemned and threatened online, was himself called in for questioning by the Seberang Perai police.
“We are investigating him under Section 4 (1) (a) of the Sedition Act,” Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi told The Malay Mail Online‘s Opalyn Mok.
“In his statement, he claimed that he had accidentally clicked ‘Like’ on the page,” Abdul Rahim said, referring to the student.
A first-time conviction under the the Sedition Act carries a maximum fine of RM5,000 or three years’ imprisonment, or both. The jail sentence is raised to a maximum of five years for subsequent convictions.
The student’s family lodged a police report after a screenshot of the student’s “Like” of the Facebook page, named “I love Israel”, was shared by one of his teachers. The shared screenshot resulted in several of his teachers and schoolmates condemning him, threatening to boycott him, and one incident of a (presumably jocular) suggestion to burn him alive.
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A student liked Israel on Facebook, and now his classmates and teachers want to boycott him
