No compromise for those who attempt to insult religion

Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today said that the government will not take lightly any alleged attempts to insult religion and cause disharmony in the country.

"Those who commit these heinous acts should be arrested according to provisions under the law, charged in court, and punished if found guilty," he said in a statement today.

Muhyiddin, who described recent alleged attempts to insult Islam as a dangerous trend, noted that it has also triggered outrage among Muslims.

"These (attempts) include messages, which contained insults to Islam, shared on social media," he said.

He was responding to two cases of alleged attempts to insult Islam, which had gone viral last week.

Slamming the perpetrators as irresponsible parties, Muhyiddin said one such attempt was the placement of a statue of a deity - also known as "Datuk Gong" - at the entrance of a surau in Port Klang on Wednesday.

"This is clearly an attempt to insult Islam and disrupt racial and religious harmony in the country," said the Pagoh MP.

It was later discovered that the statue was purportedly stolen from a house located about 50m from the surau, after the house owner lodged a police report over its disappearance.

Police are currently investigating the case under Section 295 of the Penal Code for defiling a place of worship with intention to insult the religion.

Muhyiddin also highlighted the case of a man who had allegedly insulted Prophet Muhammad in a Facebook post last week.

"The suspect in this case has been identified and investigations have been completed by the police," said Muhyiddin in a Facebook post today, adding that he believes the suspect will be charged in court soon.

On Tuesday, Pahang police chief Mohd Zakaria Ahmad said the 68-year-old man was picked up by a team of police officers at his house in Mentakab, and handed over to Batu Pahat police, where the report against him was lodged.