A 46-year-old Danish national of Yemeni descent, the first person to be charged under the new Anti Fake News Act 2018, pleaded guilty to his offence today.

He was sentenced to a week in prison and RM10,000 fine or one months' jail.

Salah Salem Saleh Sulaiman, who was not represented, was charged under the act with publishing a fake post between 6am to 9am on April 21, 2018, at a condominium in Setapak, which said that police arrived late at the scene of the murder of a Palestinian national in Kuala Lumpur.

The charge is under Section 4 of the Anti Fake News Act, where he can face a maximum fine of RM500,000 or six years jail.

He was also charged with uploading a YouTube video at the same place and time, and could have faced a lower fine of RM50,000 or three years' jail under the Communcations and Multimedia Act 1998.

However, Salah Salem pleaded guilty to the charge under the anti fake news law.

He was arrested on April 23, and with the seven days' jail term complete, he was supposed to be released today.

Salah Salem, however, told Kuala Lumpur Sessions judge Zaman Mohd Noor he could not pay the RM10,000 fine.

The Sun today reported that he was charged after criticising the response time of the police following the assassination of Hamas member Fadi al-Batsh earlier this month.

According to the report, he had posted a video on social media claiming he was with the victim of the shooting at the time of the incident, and claimed the police only arrived at the scene 50 minutes later.

He also claimed the ambulance arrived one hour later.

Police had vehemently denied his accusations, and claimed a patrol car was dispatched and arrived at the crime scene in Setapak within 10 minutes.

Despite this, Zaman said the accused could appeal the sentence if he was not satisfied with it.

Don't understand consequences

The controversial Anti Fake News Act had only been gazetted on April 11.

Salah Salem, who was dressed in a white robe and a skull cap, said he understood the charge read by the interpreter, but noted that he did not know the consequences as he was not familiar with Malaysian law.

"I apologise to the police and everyone in Malaysia. i have three wives and six kids," said the horse groomer, who is in Malaysia on a travel visa. 

Zaman noted that this Salah Salem's guilty plea was conditional, and adjourned the matter for the facts of case to be prepared to continue to hear another pending case.

In sentencing, the judge noted that this was the accused's first offence, and considering that the case was of public interest, and appropriate sentence should be meted out. 

"I hereby sentence you to seven days' jail and a RM10,000 fine or in default one month's jail," he said, adding that Salah Salem has been ordered to remove the offending post. 

An official from the Danish embassy was also present in court, but declined to make any comments.