Security Guard Jailed Eight Months, Fined RM50,000 for Insulting Agong on Facebook

KUCHING: A security guard was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment and fined RM50,000 by the Sessions Court here today after pleading guilty to making an offensive Facebook post that insulted the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim.

Judge Iris Awen Jon handed down the sentence against Raden Mohamad Norhakim, 46, after the accused pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

The court also ordered the accused to serve an additional two months’ imprisonment if he fails to pay the fine.

In addition, the accused was ordered to serve his prison sentence starting today and the mobile phone used to commit the offence was forfeited to the government.

According to the charge, he was accused of intentionally making and initiating the transmission of offensive communication using a Facebook account under the name ‘Raden Mohamad Norhakim’.

The offence was committed at a condominium near Lorong Lapangan Terbang, here, at around 7.27 a.m. on 12 February last year.

In fact, the post also contained expressions that were insulting towards the country’s leader.

The content was detected on the same day by the Assistant Director of the Content Moderation Department of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) who was on duty in Cyberjaya.

Following that, further investigations were conducted before a team of MCMC officers raided the accused on 17 June.

An inspection found that the accused’s Facebook account was still active on the mobile phone used.

Investigating officers also managed to retrieve the post that served as evidence in the case.

During proceedings, the accused, who was unrepresented by counsel, appealed for a lighter sentence.

He claimed that his actions stemmed from the influence of discussions and comments he had read on social media.

Berita Harian