KUALA LUMPUR – Police have received six reports on controversial preacher Firdaus Wong following a viral video in which he was caught providing advice on how minors can covertly convert to Islam.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told the Dewan Rakyat that investigations have started, and Firdaus’ mobile phone was confiscated in the process.
He also said evidence materials have been taken to forensics for analysis.
The home minister added that police will also be checking with other agencies, among them the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, since it issued the permit for the Majlis Buku Kebangsaan event, where the preacher was alleged to have made such comments.
“Investigations are made under Section 505(c), Section 298 of the Penal Code, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act
“To sum up, investigations are still going on regarding this matter,” Saifuddin told the lower House in his wind-up speech for the debate on the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia’s (Suhakam) Annual Report and Financial Statement for 2021 and 2022.
Saifuddin was responding to Hassan Abdul Karim (Pasir Gudang-PH), who questioned Suhakam’s apparent silence on the issue, which has raised concerns in the non-Muslim community.
On June 25, Scoop reported lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetaj Singh as saying that police are conducting investigations based on a report filed by their client, Arun Dorasamy, on Firdaus at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters.
The duo said the investigations were made under Section 505(C) of the Penal Code, which covers the offence of public mischief, where those who were found guilty can be punished with up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine.
Earlier last month, a viral TikTok video featured Firdaus providing advice to another person on how to informally convert minors to Islam without the knowledge of their families.
Responding to the backlash following the release of the video, Firdaus told Scoop that the attacks against him were hypocritical, claiming that children convert to other religions as well, and public anger arises only when Islam is involved. – July 1, 2024