Malaysia's Inspector General of Royal Malaysia Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun recently confirmed that three individuals were arrested over alleged insults aimed towards former Malaysian king Sultan Muhammad V.
Two of the three arrested were men aged 46 and 27, while the third one is a woman aged 26. All three were arrested on Tuesday. Last Sunday, Malaysia's Sultan Muhammad V stepped down as the country's king. Prior to his decision to abdicate, rumors have been circulating around several social media platforms about it.
In a statement released to the public, Malaysia's police chief said, "The arrests were made after we received a number of reports regarding users of social media accounts posting comments containing insults toward Sultan Muhammad V."
The police chief added that two of the three arrested individuals are the owners of two Twitter accounts, while one of them is an owner of a Facebook account under the name Eric Liew.
As of this writing, the two Twitter accounts and the one Facebook account under Eric Liew appeared to have been taken down. Regardless of the takedown and warnings from the Malaysian government, screenshots of the alleged insults posted on the social networking platforms continue to be spread.
Malaysia's police chief Mohamad Fuzi said that the three individuals will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and that they will face charges under the country's Sedition Act. The police chief added that social media users should use the platforms "prudently" and to stay away from making statements that are "provocative or that misconstrue the abdication of Yang di-Pertuan Agong XV."
Several rumors have been circulating on a number of social media platforms regarding the real reason for the king's abdication of his throne. While there are a number of rumors about this, one of the most prominent and widely spread is that it has something to do with the king's rumored marriage to a former beauty queen.
Channel News Asia cited an online report claiming that the 49-year-old king has married the 25-year-old former beauty queen Oksana Voevodina. Ms. Voevodina held the title of Miss Moscow in 2015. A number of online blogs have also posted a photo of the alleged marriage which took place on Nov. 22, 2018, in Barvikha, an upscale neighborhood in Moscow. A number of rumors also claim that Ms. Voevodina has converted to Islam earlier this year and that she had changed her first name to Rihana.
