KUALA LUMPUR — Bukit Aman have released three local actors on police bail after questioning them over a viral video of a 2018 theatre performance allegedly mocking the Rukun Negara (National Principles), while investigators hunt for the person who re-uploaded the footage.
Federal Criminal Investigation Department Director Datuk M. Kumar said the performers, a man and two women aged 28, 29 and 47 respectively, were picked up in Selangor and Johor last Saturday.
"The three have since been released on police bail after their statements were recorded, and checks found no content from the performance on their mobile phones or other devices.
"We recorded their statements and released them on police bail because they co-operated and we had completed checks on their devices. Nothing was found, so there was no justification to remand them," he told a press conference at the federal police headquarters here.
Kumar said police had identified five actors featured in the clip, adding that one has since died and the other is believed to currently be in the United Kingdom based on immigration records.
He said investigators are now tracing the person who uploaded the eight-year-old footage online, including through relevant Internet Protocol addresses.
"Someone has now circulated what happened in 2018 and we are tracking down the person who uploaded the video," he said.
The performance was staged behind closed doors at a performing arts centre in Penang in 2018 as part of a competition involving several groups.
The performing arts centre has since closed, Kumar said.
He added that investigations showed the performance director is a UK national who has since left Malaysia.
The case is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
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