The Kuantan Sessions Court today meted out six months’ jail to a fish delivery worker for posting offensive comments regarding the death of two policemen in an accident at the East Coast Expressway last Tuesday.

Judge Siti Aminah Ghazali handed out the sentence to Mohd Hannan Ibrahim, 27, from Kampung Parit Tengah, Pekan, after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

The court ordered him to serve the jail term from the date of his arrest, which was on Oct 23.

The accused was charged with using his Facebook account to write an insulting comment on a post in the ‘Komuniti Kuantan’ group about the death of the two policemen at 5.30pm on Oct 23. He did this using his own smartphone.

He was charged under Section 233 (1) (a) (i) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which carries a maximum fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment for a year or both, upon conviction.

It, among others, criminalises the use of network facilities or network services by a person to transmit any communication that is deemed to be offensive and could cause annoyance to another person.

During mitigation, Mohd Hannan, who was unrepresented, appealed to the court for imprisonment on the grounds that he is just a labourer to deliver “patin” fish from Pekan to Temerloh with a monthly income of RM1,600.

“I appeal for a brief imprisonment as I have to support my parents and a nephew. My mother is ill and I have to care for her,” he said, and later thanked the judge for the short prison sentence.

Deputy public prosecutor Fatimah Abu Bakar had urged the court to impose an appropriate punishment to serve as a lesson to the accused and the public to be more cautious in their actions on social sites.

“His action of writing the offensive comment on the posting not only angered the people serving in the Royal Malaysia Police but also saddened the victims’ families,” she said.

Last Tuesday, Sergeant Major Roslan Maon, 50, and Constable Watson Edin, 23, were killed after their patrol car skidded and crashed into a metal guardrail at KM183 of the East Coast Expressway near Maran.

They were escorting vehicles transporting Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination papers from Bentong to Kuantan when the accident occurred at 3.20pm.

– Bernama