Crab seller jailed, fined RM15k for uploading offensive posts against Raja of Perlis

A crab trader was sentenced to six months in prison and fined RM15,000 by the Sessions Court in Kangar today after pleading guilty to uploading offensive posts against Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail on his Facebook account last March.

Judge Musyiri Peet in meting out the punishment on Hasbullah Mohammad, 41, ordered the prison sentence to run from the date he was arrested on March 7 and an additional two months in jail if he fails to pay the fine.

Before handing down the sentence, Musyiri urged Hasbullah to be careful in spreading information on social media.

“A bit of advice from me, our country is a constitutional monarchy. In this social media age, information is at the fingertips and you have to be careful about spreading information without ensuring its validity and then this is conveyed to the public,” he said.

According to the charge, Hasbullah is alleged to have knowingly made and started uploading offensive posts against the Perlis ruler at 3.26am on March 6, to hurt others on Facebook using the profile name “Muhammad Muhammad (ku tehh ku muhammad)”.

The charge was framed under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 [Act 588] and punishable under Section 233(3) of the same Act, which provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000 or a maximum imprisonment of one year or both and can be fined RM1,000 for each day the offence continues after conviction.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Izham Ali acted for the prosecution while Hasbullah was represented by Yayasan Bantuan Gaman Kebangsaan lawyer Siti Hajar Ahmad.

- Bernama

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