Malaysian rapper remanded for ‘defiling mosque’

A Malaysian court Monday remanded a rap artist in custody over a music video which was partly filmed in a mosque.
Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, will be held for four days, a Penang district police chief, Mior Faridalathrash Wahid, told AFP.
He said the rapper was being investigated for defiling a place of worship.
The rapper, who is also a film director, could face up to two years in jail, a fine, or both penalties if convicted, according to local media.
The video featured footage of Namewee and other singers, dressed in outfits representing various cultures and religions, performing inside a Penang mosque and a church as well as Hindu, Buddhist and Taoist temples.
Namewee was arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport while returning from overseas late Sunday.
Earlier this year cinema posters and a billboard advertisement for a Hong Kong blockbuster film were modified to erase a half-man, half-pig character. 
In July several groups filed police reports claiming Namewee’s music video had insulted their religious sentiments.
In response he posted a YouTube video explaining that he had no intention of insulting any religion and that the song was written to “promote harmony.”
The original music video is no longer available online but an edited version without footage of the mosque scenes was uploaded to YouTube over the weekend.
Namewee first hit the headlines in 2007 when he posted a video that featured him rapping to Malaysia’s national anthem using allegedly seditious lyrics.

Source: Arab News