THE police acted in a highhanded and overzealous manner by arresting two SPM students for ridiculing their History paper on social media, Lawyers for Liberty said today.

Director Zaid Malek also wants the government to explain why the two boys were detained.

“The police raided their home, arrested them and subjected them to a drugs test, which would have caused extreme trauma to the boys and their families,” Zaid said, adding that the police went to such lengths because the boys vented their frustrations over their SPM History paper.

“Education Minister Fadhlina Sadek must also break her silence over schoolchildren being hauled up by police for posting silly videos.”

Zaid added that lawyers are deeply concerned that police will create an atmosphere will strike fear into parents nationwide, if arrests such as these are not addressed.

He said that, even if the boys had issued some unsavoury comments, they did not warrant intervention of the police.

“It should have been a matter for the school authorities and parents.

“They were just teenagers being childish. The boys had already apologised, yet they were treated like hardened criminals,” he said.

Zaid also used the incident to question the continued use of section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act, the opaque law cited by police to detain the boys.

He said that this piece of legislation was “a bane to freedom of speech, and contrary to promises of reform by the Pakatan Harapan government”. 

It was reported yesterday that the boys were detained after police received reports from a teacher.

Hulu Selangor police chief Suffian Abdullah said the video posted on TikTok and Facebook showed a male student in his school uniform expressing his dissatisfaction with the SPM History paper.

“The student used vulgar words to criticise those who had set the questions and also insulted Singapore,” Suffian said in a statement. – February 26, 2023.