Malaysia opposition leader investigated under fake news laws

Mahathir Mohamad claimed that people working for the government were responsible for the ‘sabotage’ of his plane in order to stop him registering as an election candidate. Photograph: STAFF/Reuters

Hannah Ellis-Petersen -Thu 3 May 2018 09.23 BST

Mahathir Mohamad is being investigated under law recently rushed through ahead of general election
Mahathir Mohamad claimed that people working for the government were responsible for the ‘sabotage’ of his plane in order to stop him registering as an election candidate. Photograph: STAFF/Reuters

The opposition leader in the upcoming Malaysian elections is being investigated under the country’s new fake news laws, police have confirmed.

Mahathir Mohamad, who was prime minister of Malaysia for two decades and is running again aged 92, claimed last weekend that people working for the government were responsible for the “sabotage” of his plane, in order to stop him registering as an election candidate.

On Wednesday Malaysian police said Mahathir was being investigated under the fake news legislation, which was recently rushed through parliament by the prime minister, Najib Razak, amid fears from human rights groups it could be used by the government against its opponents.

The complaint against Mahathir was filed by members of ruling party UMNO – which Mahathir used to lead – claiming that his allegations of sabotage fuelled an incorrect and damaging perception of the ruling coalition government, and therefore should be investigated under the Anti-fake News Act 2018.

“For the case on the fake news, it involves a claim by Mahathir that the jet which he had chartered to fly to Langkawi was sabotaged last Friday,” said the Kuala Lumpur police chief, Mazlan Lazim.
In a lengthy open letter published last Saturday, Mahathir detailed how a chartered plane due to take him to the island of Langkawi – where he is running as a parliamentary candidate for the elections on 9 May – suffered suspicious damage to the tyre so was unable to fly.

He said that others who he had reached out to had indicated they were “under pressure” not to lend him their aircraft as a back-up.

While Mahathir did make it to Langkawi in time to register, he said the series of events had led him to conclude that “it is logical to believe that there is a deliberate attempt to stop me from going to Langkawi ... I maintain my belief that the plane was deliberately tampered with.”

The allegations were subsequently dismissed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia and the aircraft company, Vista Jet, who both said that no such foul play had taken place and it was simply a routine technical fault.

The decision to investigate Mahathir will further fuel concern that the law was designed to silence Najib’s critics in the run-up to the election.

Under the law, the government decides what constitutes fake news. The law carries a jail sentence of up to six years and a fine of 500,000 ringgit (£93,000) for anyone who “maliciously” creates and distributes false information.

Mahathir has said only that he is not worried about the fake news investigation.

It also extends to those who are not Malaysian citizens. The first person charged under the new law this week was Danish citizen Salah Salem Saleh Sulaiman, who claimed in an online video that the police had taken 50 minutes to respond to the distress call of a Palestinian lecturer who was gunned down in Kuala Lumpur last week. Police said they had actually taken eight minutes to respond.

The judge fined Sulaiman 10,000 ringgit (£1,866) but he opted to spend a month in jail because he could not pay.