The Attorney General today preferred charges against six men in a nationwide swoop against those who had allegedly insulted the Sultan of Perak in the Internet over the ruler's role in the ongoing political crisis in the state.

Simultaneous charges were tabled in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Kota Kinabalu and Butterworth this morning.

They were all charged under Section 233 (1)(A) of the Multimedia and Communications Act 1998 for "unwise use of network or network services for making comments, demands, suggestions or communication which are vulgar, false, threatening or disturbing".

This is the first time anyone had been charged under this Act, which granted a maximum fine of RM50,000 or a maximum jail term of one year, or both for those found guilty.

malaysian law conference 291007 sultan azlan shah 1 In Kuala Lumpur, a lab assistant pleaded guilty at the Sessions Court for insulting Sultan Azlan Shah ( photo ) in the Perak sultan's website and was fined RM10,000.

At press time Azrin Mohd Zain, 33, had not paid the fine. Failure to pay the fine would result in him being jailed for five months. He was not represented by any lawyer.

Earlier in the court, Azrin had tried to appeal to judge Rozana Ali Yusoff to reduce the fine to RM2,000 as his monthly income was only RM1,680. He added that he has a wife and child to support.

Not in the right frame of mind

He also said that he was "not in the right frame of mind" when he posted the alleged offensive comments and regretted having done so.

He said he had learnt his lesson and promised not to "surf any more political website".

"I was trading online to make extra money. I don't make enough money with my monthly income. My profit was stumbling at that point so I was not in the right frame of mind when I made that comment," he told the judge.

The prosecutor however argued it was imperative that the court penalise Azrin with maximum penalty to send a deterring message to the public that the offence committed was very serious and had insulted the country's monarchy.

Rozana then agreed with the prosecutor and told Azrin that he should be careful with his actions and that he had also committed a very serious offence.

Azrin was seen crying after he was slapped with the fine. His father later came to console him and told him that he would try and raise the money.

The emotional lab assistant who lives in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur also hysterically recoiled when reporters approached him for comments.

Also in the court in Kuala Lumpur was Muslim Ahmad, from Setapak, charged for the same offence under the same Act.

Muslim however claimed trial and has been released on a RM3,000 bail. His case will be mentioned April 8.

Hearing dates fixed

And in Petaling Jaya, 36-year-old land surveyor Nor Hisham Osman was charged under the same Act for similarly insulting the sultan online on Feb 11.

Nor Hisham claimed trial and has been released on a RM4,000 bail. His case will be mentioned on April 14.

Similarly, a handphone dealer in Kota Kinabalu was also charged this morning under the Act for insulting the sultan.

Rutinin Suhaimin, 35, from Kundasang, Ranau claimed trial to the offence and his case will be heard on May 25 and 26 before magistrate Ummu Kalthom Abdul Samad.

Rutinin has also been released on bail.

In Butterworth, Chan Hon Keong and Khoo Hui Shuang were charged under the Act at the Sessions Court for posting offensive remarks against the sultan.

Chan pleaded not guilty while Khoo was absent. He was summoned to the court again on April 15.

The alleged insults were related to the present political crisis in Perak, which saw the Pakatan Rakyat-led government being ousted by Barisan Nasional following the defection of three assemblypersons.

The crisis culminated in Sultan Azlan Shah asking the ousted Pakatan Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin to step down.

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