KUALA LUMPUR: An unemployed man was fined RM6,000 by the Sessions Court here today in lieu of three months’ jail for insulting Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah on Facebook.
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Judge Edwin Paramjothy Michael Muniandy handed down the sentence on Ooi Wei Siong during case mention.
Ooi pleaded guilty last week to a charge under Section 233 (1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act of posting offensive comments against the ruler on March 1.
Another individual, Nurhaizad Azhar, also pleaded guilty to a similar offence. He will be sentenced on March 23.
The court, in passing down the sentence, said while the Federal Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, this does not include insulting another person.
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“In this case, the accused used foul language that undermined the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the head of state. The court took into account that the accused expressed regret for his action and has apologised,” Edwin added.
Ooi’s Facebook post was read by a police officer at Bukit Aman’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department on March 2. He was arrested the same day at Bukit Mertajam.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission conducted an analysis on the Facebook account and confirmed that Ooi was the account owner.
Ooi meanwhile said the Facebook post had been deleted. – FMT