SEREMBAN: A 24-year-old student from Bangladesh was charged in the magistrates’ court here today with 12 counts of possessing and producing child pornography.
Zobaidul Amin, a student at a university in Kuala Lumpur, was arrested by police in Seremban on Monday after a joint investigation with the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
Zobaidul was charged with eight counts of producing child pornography in the form of videos and photos through the Snapchat application.
Each charge, framed under Section 5 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, carries a punishment of not more than 30 years’ jail and whipping upon conviction.
He was also charged with four counts of possessing 740 images of child pornography in his phone, USB drive and hard drive.
Framed under Section 10 of the same Act, each charge carries a punishment of not more than five years’ jail and a fine of not more than RM10,000, or both, upon conviction.
Zobaidul was alleged to have committed the offences between Oct 26, 2021 and Sept 19 this year.
Bail was set at RM8,000 for each charge or a total of RM96,000. Zobaidul was sent to Seremban prison after failing to raise bail.
Deputy public prosecutor Zahida Zakaria prosecuted.
The court fixed Nov 30 for next mention of the case.
Earlier today, federal police secretary Noorsiah Saaduddin was quoted as saying that Zobaidul used social media to communicate with his victims – all children from overseas – and coerced them into providing him with pornographic materials.–FMT