Malaysian police arrest man for insulting king, investigate three others

Malaysia has arrested a man and started investigating three others for social media posts that insult the king and threaten public order, the police said on Sunday.

The social media posts followed the king's decision on Saturday to name former interior minister Muhyiddin Yassin as Malaysia's next prime minister. A week of political turmoil sparked by former premier Mahathir Mohamad's resignation culminated with Muhyiddin being sworn in at the palace on Sunday morning.

A 35-year-old man was remanded on Sunday over a Facebook update insulting the king. Further investigations are ongoing, the police said in a statement. Another two men are also under investigation for insulting the king in Facebook posts, while a Twitter user is being investigated as well.

The latter "deliberately uploaded a statement with elements of sedition that can cause an environment of disharmony, disorder, feelings of enmity and disrupting public peace and safety," police said. Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, who tweeted under the handle @FadiahNadwa, posted a message calling for those "outraged by the betrayal" to rally on Saturday night.

Fadiah said in a text message that she had been singled out by the authorities. "Malaysians have been expressing worry, grief, anger, and frustration over the scheming and power tussle by politicians. The police, however, have singled me out for a gathering held on Saturday," she said.