The Sessions Court in Alor Setar today fined a jobless man RM9,500 in default six months jail after he pleaded guilty to sending an offensive message over Twitter to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in December last year.

Judge Najwa Che Mat handed down the sentence on Mohamad Arif Fadila Arbain, 26, who had sent the Twitter message in the name of @SangAlgojoe on Dec 1, 2015.

Mohamad Arif’s lawyer Lim Wei Yong, from the National Legal Aid Foundation, sought a light sentence, saying his client had just stopped work as a waiter at a restaurant and had to take care of his diabetic father.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission prosecution director Mohd Sophian Zakaria insisted on a deterrent sentence, saying it should serve as a lesson for society.

Mohamad Arif said he regretted having sent the message and vowed never to do such a thing again.

- Bernama