Describing it as “just rumour”, Hamzah (photo) disclosed the said man, identified as Joseph Lakai, was also in fact shocked with the news of his so-called arrest which had gone viral in the past few days.
“Rumour has been going around about a Sabahan pilot, Captain Joseph Lakai, was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and was detained at the Putrajaya police station for promoting the Sabah for Sabahan slogan and Allah issue.
Hamza said they had contacted Joseph, adding that: “He is well in Keningau, and is coming down to lodge a police report at the Karamunsing police station to clarify that he is not involved in spreading the rumour. He told us that his Facebook account was hacked.”
For the past few days, news have been circulating on Facebook that Joseph Lakai, a pilot, was detained at KLIA around 4pm over the two issues – Sabah for Sabahan and Allah, and was only released by four lawyers, including a lawyer from Baru Bian, an outstanding queen council from Sarawak.
Joseph was also allegedly beaten almost every parts of his body and sustained minor injuries during the detention.
The rumour also said that he was flown to Australia, where he was born and restricted to enter Malaysia, particularly Sabah, for two months.
“These claims are not true. That is why we hope people would not be too jumpy and believe what they read on social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, always first find out of these rumours are true,” said Hamza.
By Jessieanne Joannes
Previous report.....18 October 2013
KL POLICE DENY SABAH PILOT’S ARREST
Man was said to be in Sipitang at the time of his alleged detention at the KLIA on Wednesday
KOTA KIANABALU - Kuala Lumpur City police chief Datuk Mohmad Salleh today denied the information spread on social media claiming that a pilot from Sabah had been arrested.
He said the claim that a pilot had been arrested at the KL International Airport (KLIA) was a baseless accusation and not based on police records nor was any arrest made as had been claimed.
“The claim has a seditious tendency and a police report has been made to conduct an investigation under Section 4 (1) (b) of the Sedition Act 1948 to identify and take legal action against those responsible,” he said in a statement here today.
He also advised the public not to continue disseminating information on this matter in the social media.
Earlier there was a ‘page’ on the social networking site with the title Breaking News: Sabah for Sabahan relating to the arrest of the pilot about the slogan ‘Sabah For Sabahan’ and the issue of Allah.
The ‘page’ had also stated that the pilot was beaten and suffered injuries all over his body.
Meanwhile, it has been reliably learnt that a person. Said to be Joseph Lakai, an SAPP member, has lodged a police report at the Karamunsing police station here, claiming that his Facebook account has been hacked by someone.
bukit amanHe claimed that the unknown person or persons had used his FB account to spread rumours that he had been detained by the police upon arriving at the KLIA on Wednesday.
A check on the social media Facebook discussions found that many observers have denounced the so-called arrest as a ‘hoax/prank’ by Lakai, who allegedly has a reputation for attention seeking.
This could be best explained by the fact that Lakai who is a member of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) was said to have called up a senior party colleague cum lawyer, Peter Marajin that he was detained in the nation’s capital.
This was reported in online news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) today.
In its report entitled “Activist detained in KL back in Sabah” FMT claimed that Lakai, a senior member of SAPP, released after a grilling by authorities over his political comments on Facebook.
It said Lakai was detained in Kuala Lumpur two days ago over remarks he had made on the Internet about federal-state relations and politics.
The said rumour had apparently caused anxiety among Lakai’s family and friends, including those from SAPP.
A check by some of Lakai’s close friends later found out that he was actually in Sipitang when the purported arrest was made in KLIA.
One of his wives apparently had also privately told some of his friends to delete the comment on his alleged arrest by police that were posted by them, from their Facebook walls.
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