KUALA LUMPUR: One of the suspects believed to be involved in taking down a Malaysian flag and replacing it with the flags of Sabah and Sarawak in Australia has not been in Malaysia for nearly eight years.
Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said the 37-year-old suspect left Malaysia in 2016.
"Based on our checks, he left Malaysia on Oct 26, 2016. There is no record of his return.
"We are also investigating an organisation called the Republic of Sabah North Borneo, which is believed to be involved in this incident," he said when contacted on Wednesday.
He said that checks revealed the group was registered in Australia.
"We have also reached out to the Registrar of Societies for further verification.
"The case is being investigated by Bukit Aman's Classified Crime Investigation Unit (USJT) for sedition and for making statements conducive to public mischief under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act and Section 505(b) of the Penal Code," he said.
It was reported that police had opened an investigation paper under the Sedition Act 1948 and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 over a viral video showing the Malaysian flag being taken down and replaced with the flags of Sabah and Sarawak.
Preliminary investigations found that the incident occurred in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept 16, supposedly as a symbol of the end of Malaysia's 'colonisation' of the two states in question and their transformation into republics.
Police received 35 reports regarding the video, with 34 lodged in Sabah and one in Kuala Lumpur.
Investigations found that the video was posted by a Malaysian social media account holder with a Sabah address.
The man had two previous criminal records related to Section 500 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, and had been charged with an unrelated offence in Kota Kinabalu, but was freed on bail of RM3,000 pending the mention of the case in November.
A video lasting eight minutes and 13 seconds went viral on social media, showing a group of individuals lowering the Jalur Gemilang and raising the flags of Sabah and Sarawak in front of the Victoria Parliament building in Melbourne, Australia.