Woman held for making false statements about Johor Permaisuri through Facebook

Police Thursday arrested a woman for allegedly making false statements about the Permaisuri of Johor, Raja Zarith Sofia Sultan Idris Shah through Facebook.

Johor police chief Datuk Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd said the 25-year-old woman who was believed to have used a Facebook account under the name Ira Lalola was arrested at about 4.50pm at Kampung Parit Sempadan, Parit Raja, near Batu Pahat.

"Earlier, at about 3.45pm the Johor police received a report on abuse of social media sites.

"The police report was in respect of a false statement made by the Johor Permaisuri in relation to Islamic religious issues in the state.

"The false statement issued can threaten peace and harmony in the country. Investigations revealed the Johor Permaisuri had never issued such statement as found on the Facebook page," he said in a statement here Thursday.

According to Wan Ahmad Najmuddin police also confiscated three mobile phones believed to have been used by the suspect to upload the false statements.

He said the case was being investigated under Section 233 (1(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

Wan Ahmad Najmuddin advised the public against abusing smart phone applications to upload false statements with the intention to offend, violate, intimidate or harass others.

"We will not compromise and will take firm action against those involved," he added.