Energy, Water and Communications Deputy Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor warned the public not to post or distribute the offensive cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, otherwise action will be taken against them under the Communication and Multimedia Act.

According to a Bernama report late, Shaziman said the act has clearly stated that anyone found to have posted or distributed materials containing pornographic elements, humiliating, degrading or damaging the reputation of any party was liable to a maximum fine of RM50,000 or jailed for not less than a year, or both, upon conviction.

"If they're convicted and they're found to have repeated the offence, they will be fined RM1,000 a day for posting or distributing through the Internet," he was quoted as saying by the national news agency.

The deputy minister said the ministry is monitoring the situation and that the public could co-operate by lodging complaints to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to enable the ministry to detect the source.

The caricatures, first published in a Danish newspaper and later reprinted in several other European newspapers, have sparked a wide protest and violence among Muslims globally.

Suspensions of newspapers

On Feb 9, Sarawak English daily Sarawak Tribune was slapped with an indefinite suspension after the paper had reprinted the caricature.

On Feb 14, Chinese newspaper Guangming Daily was also given a two-week suspension for the same offence.

Yesterday, the country's oldest English daily New Straits Times was let off the hook for publishing another caricature that allegedly belittles the Prophet.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the government accepted the apology by the newspaper and no action would be taken against it.

State-owned RTM's TV2 is in hot soup now for having had aired images of the controversial caricatures of Prophet Muhammad during a news programme early this month.

The government has demanded an investigation on TV2 to be carried out.