PETALING JAYA: The individual who allegedly threatened local comedian Harith Iskander and his family has been arrested by the police on Saturday (Jan 25).
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said the suspect’s arrest comes after Harith’s manager, Dr Jezamine Lim, lodged a police report at the Dang Wangi police station three days ago.
The 31-year-old man’s mobile phone was seized to facilitate police investigations.
“In the first incident, the victim was contacted by the suspect at 11.21am on Tuesday while he was at Semua House, Jalan Bunus 6, Masjid India.
“The man threatened to murder him after the victim issued a statement on the ham issue,“ he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.
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In the second incident that occurred at 3pm three days ago in Jalan Bunus 6, Jezamine, who is also the comedian’s ex-wife, received a message containing an image of the alleged threats against their children.
Razarudin confirmed that the suspect is in remand until next Tuesday (Jan 28) to assist in further investigations according to Sections 506 and 509 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation and intentionally insulting a person’s modesty.
Earlier, Jezamine announced the cancellation of the highly anticipated show, “Punchline: Harith Iskander 35 Years of Laughter” scheduled for Saturday night following the malicious threats against the family.
In a statement, it is said the decision was unanimously made with the Petronas Philharmonic Hall and Harith’s family.
ALSO READ: Jakim to summon Harith Iskander over offensive ‘Ham Sap Kopi’ joke
Previously, Jezamine, on Instagram, called out those sending the death and abuse threats to her family, calling the act “despicable, cowardly, and inhumane”.
Harith and his family were threatened in light of the controversy surrounding the comedian’s post about “Ham Sap Kopi” on January 21 which allegedly insulted Islam.
Not only that, the post included a comment from social media account of Cecelia Yap Song KL which was accused of insulting Islam and both the post and the comment triggered public backlash.
Several police reports were lodged against Harith, resulting in an investigation into the post.
Harith’s statement was eventually recorded by the police.
ALSO READ: Comedian lodges report against Harith Iskander, social media account for allegedly insulting Islam
