Lawyer Paulsen remanded for two days

KUALA LUMPUR : Lawyer Eric Paulsen who was held on Monday night for an alleged seditious comment on Twitter will spend the next two days in detention after police obtained a remand order at the KL magistrates' court today.
Paulsen, who is a founding member of the Lawyers for Liberty and is being investigated under the Sedition Act is currently under the custody of Dang Wangi police.
He was arrested in Petaling Jaya on Monday night by a police team from Dang Wangi.
Paulsen had allegedly posted a comment on Twitter last week claiming the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) was promoting extremism in sermons at mosques during weekly prayers on Friday.
Certain quarters including Umno members took offence over the comment before lodging police reports urging the authorities to act against the lawyer for allegedly insulting Islam.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement today that police had acted on Paulsen as a measure to safeguard the peace and harmony among the races in the country.
He said the lawyer's arrest was carried out within the perimeters of the law and it should not be politicised or manipulated to cause public unrest.
"Do not take the peace we have achieved in the country lightly or be arrogant when taking advantage of freedom of speech. We warn that police will not hesitate to take action against any party with a hidden agenda that affects national security." he said.