Malaysia: Authorities take no further action on political satirist Fahmi Reza’s ‘Dengki Ke’ sedition case

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Authorities on Tuesday (24 Aug) dropped a sedition case made against political satirist Fahmi Reza for allegedly insulting the nation’s Queen.

In a tweet on Tuesday evening, Fahmi wrote: “Good news! Remember when I was arrested under the #SeditionAct and was held in lockup for my satirical work #DengkiKe containing the Queen’s photo?”

“Today the police informed me that investigation papers were referred to the Attorney-General’s Chambers, and my case has been classified as NFA! No Further Action! Victory!” He said.

The allegedly seditious content entailed a playlist Fahmi had made on Spotify titled “This Is Dengki Ke?” — a play on one of the most commonly seen playlist names on the music streaming platform and the Queen’s remarks on social media.

Queen Azizah’s portrait graced the cover art for Fahmi’s 101-track playlist. The description of the playlist read: “100 dengki songs, all in one playlist. Fuck censorship.”

After receiving numerous reports, Spotify had repeatedly removed the cover image, title and description of the playlist, which prompted Fahmi to upload the playlist on Apple Music.

Forget @SpotifyMY, This Is Dengki Ke? is now streaming on @AppleMusic!

🔊 https://t.co/TFdPrPMwoM pic.twitter.com/P2HbP1jf0r

— Fahmi Reza (@kuasasiswa) April 23, 2021

“Dengki Ke?” refers to Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah’s Instagram comment reply on her now-deleted post on 19 Apr.

Written in informal Malay, “Dengki ke?” roughly translates to “Are you envious?” or “Are you jealous?”

She was responding to a user who had asked her if the palace chefs had been vaccinated after the queen posted several pictures of dishes that she and the chefs had prepared.

The user’s comment was one of the multiple comments made by social media users after a controversial report by Asia Sentinel alleged that the King and his family were among several members of the Malaysian elite who had received the Sinopharm vaccine in the United Arab Emirates in Jan.

The vaccine, at the time, had yet to receive regulatory approval from Malaysia’s health authorities.

According to Asia Sentinel’s unnamed sources, Sultan Abdullah was given an additional 2,000 doses for his family and friends to bring back to Malaysia.

The excess vaccines “were used for business partners and friends”, Asia Sentinel wrote.

Good news! Ingat lagi aku kena tahan bwh #AktaHasutan & kena lokap sebab karya satira #DengkiKe dgn gambar Permaisuri Agong? Hari ni pihak polis beritahu aku kertas siasatan dah dirujuk ke Pejabat Peguam Negara & kes aku diklasifikasi sebagai NFA! Tiada Tindakan Lanjut! Victory! pic.twitter.com/WF6xF8s7S3

— Fahmi Reza (@kuasasiswa) August 24, 2021

As anger began to mount among social media users, particularly on Twitter, the Queen then deactivated her Instagram account. She had, however, later returned to the social media platform.

Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director Huzir Mohamed said that Fahmi was held in remand for a day after being apprehended on 24 Apr.

Other than the Sedition Act, Fahmi was also investigated under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

Then-Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, however, told Bernama that his ministry will not interfere in the investigations and will leave the matter in the hands of the police.

A well-known political dissident in Malaysia, Fahmi was previously jailed for a month in 2018 and fined RM30,000 for drawing and publishing a caricature of then-Prime Minister Najib Razak in the form of a clown.

Previously, Fahmi said in a statement through his lawyers that parody and satire as a form of protest “should continue to be allowed to be practised and defended”, particularly “in a country where a graphic artist is being censored, arrested and locked up for his artwork”.

Nalini Elumalai, ARTICLE 19’s Malaysia Programme Officer previously said in a statement that “criminalising humour and critical commentary will stunt political discourse and chill civic engagement”.

The Sedition Act — a colonial relic — and the Communications and Multimedia Act, said ARTICLE 19, are “pieces of legislation that have been aggressively applied by the authorities against human rights defenders, journalists, political opponents, and members of the public”.

“They serve to protect the most powerful institutions—often referred to as the 3Rs: race, religion and royalty—while arbitrarily restricting criticism, dissent, and in Fahmi’s case, political satire,” it said.

ARTICLE 19 said that the broad, ambiguous wording of the Acts render them “highly vulnerable to abuse” and easily arbitrarily applied “to suppress criticism of the government or monarchy”.

“Fahmi’s arrest reminds us that the campaign to abolish the Sedition Act and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act must continue,” said Nalini.

“These laws threaten artists, activists, and ordinary Malaysians who wish to express a controversial opinion or simply make a joke at the expense of a powerful individual,” she added.