News of his release was greeted on Facebook with messages of “Alhamdulillah” (“Praise be to God”) and “bebasmasyhur jadi masyhurbebas” (“FreeMasyhur is now MasyhurFree”), together with the hashtag #BebasMasyhur that has been trending since the 29-year-old’s arrest in Kuala Lumpur three days ago.
“All praise be to God. Now he can visit the children,” commented Sharir Shazni, referring to Masyhur’s involvement in charity work with children from poverty-stricken families in the capital.
Throughout his arrest, the Internet was filled with memes (a viral image) calling for Masyhur’s release with the words “Bola Sepak Sukan Rakyat!” (“Football is the People’s Sport”) and #BebasMasyhur.
Masyhur made headlines after he tweeted a retort allegedly aimed at the Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, who is also the owner of the Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) football club.
Some netizens then shared some images posted by Masyhur, attempting to relate the alleged offensive tweet to a Photoshopped image that showed Tunku Ismail apparently getting set to “dine” on an elephant (with the word “CEO” on it).
The Photoshopped image went viral after JDT defeated the Pahang football team 6-0 in the Super League match last week.
The “Tok Gajah” (Pahang football club) fans were unhappy about it. This was so because the elephant is the official mascot for the team.
Tunku Ismail later confirmed that the picture was meant to be a joke for his friend, “Pahang’s ex-CEO”.
“Nothing personal. Look, when it comes to us and when we lose, everybody joins in and makes fun of us.
“Some even stomp on our flag. But when we give a little psychological warfare from our side, everybody suddenly becomes self-righteous.
“When it comes to me or JDT, some people get over-sensitive. I don’t know why.”
Masyhur is being investigated under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
If convicted Masyhur can be fined up to RM50,000, or imprisoned for not more than a year, or both.
One netizen, who identified himself as TengkuZex, leapt to Tunku Ismail’s defence, calling the latter a “professional”.
“I feel that TMJ didn’t have him arrested to be tortured.”