Curtailing Free Expression, Opinion and Information Online in Southeast Asia Case of Khalid Mohd Ismath In October 2015, Khalid Mohd Ismath, a human rights defender and member of a political opposition party, was charged with 11 counts under section 233 of the CMA and three counts under the Sedition Act, for posting information on social media deemed “offensive” to the royal family of the state of Johor. One of his posts had reportedly criticized abuse of power by the Malaysian police in the state.404 Ismath was arrested and remanded, and his detention period extended under the Sedition Act. On 29 October, after 22 days in detention, he was released on bail.405 In a similar case: In June 2016, Muhammad Amirul Azwan Mohd Shakri, a 19-year-old building site worker, was sentenced to one year in prison after pleading guilty to 14 charges under section 233 of the CMA for alleged insult of a member of the royal family of Johor. Shakri’s sentence was thereafter commuted to two years in a reform school.406 Case of Fahmi Reza In February 2018, Fahmi Reza, a satirical artist and filmmaker, was sentenced to one month in prison and fined RM30,000 (approx. USD 7,281) after the Ipoh Sessions Court found him guilty of violating section 233 of the CMA for posting an allegedly “offensive” image on his Facebook account in February 2016. The image was of the artist’s painting of thenPrime Minister Najib Razak as a clown, along with the logo of the MCMC.407 In November 2018, the Ipoh High Court commuted Reza’s sentence to a fine of RM10,000 (approx. USD 2,427) and one month in prison in default. Reza thereafter submitted an appeal against his conviction.408 In July 2019, Malaysia’s Court of Appeal rejected Reza’s appeal, and upheld 404 Frontline Defenders, ‘Khalid Mohd Ismath’, Available at: https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/ case/case-history-khalid-mohd-ismath; See also Article 19 CMA analysis, p5. 405 Ibid.; The Malaysian Insider, ‘Court allows activist Khalid interim bail but with conditions’, HAKAM, 29 October 2015, Available at: https://hakam.org.my/wp/2015/10/29/court-allows-activist-khalidinterim-bail-but-with-conditions/ 406 Article 19 CMA analysis, p5; Gabriel Samuels, ‘Teenager jailed for insulting Malaysian royal family on Facebook’, The Independent, 8 June 2016, Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ world/asia/teenager-jailed-for-insulting-malaysian-royal-family-on-facebook-a7070436.html 407 Frontline Defenders, ‘Fahmi Reza’, Available at: https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/ fahmi-reza-sentenced-prison-and-fined 408 Ibid. 109