KANGAR: A crab trader was sentenced to six months in prison and fined RM15,000 by the Sessions Court here today after pleading guilty to uploading offensive posts against the Raja Perlis via his Facebook account last March.
Judge Musyiri Peet in meting out the punishment on Hasbullah Mohammad, 41, ordered the prison sentence to run from the date he was arrested on March 7 and additional two months jail if he fails defaulted on the fine.
Before handing down the sentence, Musyiri advised Hasbullah to be careful in spreading information using his fingertips through social media.
“A bit of advice from me, our country is a constitutional monarchy. In this social media age, information is at the fingertips and you have to be careful because it is easy to spread information without ensuring its validity and can be sent to the public,“ he said.
According to the charge, Hasbullah is alleged to have knowingly made and started sending offensive against the Perlis Ruler at 3.26 am on March 6, 2024, with the intention of hurting others through Facebook using the profile name “Muhammad Muhammad (ku tehh ku muhammad)”.
The charge was framed under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 [Act 588] and punishable under Section 233(3) of the same act which provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000 or a maximum imprisonment of one year or both and can be fined RM1,000 for each day the offence continues after conviction.
The prosecution was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Izham Ali while Hasbullah was represented by Yayasan Bantuan Gaman Kebangsaan (YBGK) lawyer Siti Hajar Ahmad.
