By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Sept 27: The Sessions Court here today imposed a fine of RM17,000 on a local man for posting offensive statements on Facebook that hurt the feelings of another man.
The accused, 23, pleaded guilty to the charge read out in front of Judge Musli Abdul Hamid.
He was charged with using Facebook to intentionally initiate offensive communications aimed at the victim.
He committed the offense in a rented room on Jalan Bako, at about 5pm on May 6, 2022.
The accused was charged under Section 233(1)(a)(ii) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and punishable under Section 233(3) of the same Act.
Judge Musli imposed a six-month prison sentence if the accused fails to pay the fine.
According to the case facts, the complainant found that pictures of him and his family had been uploaded on the Facebook social media platform under a certain account with the intention to embarrass him and his family.
The police report was subsequently filed by the complainant, leading to the arrest of the accused at a building in Metrocity, Jalan Matang, around 3.50pm on June 25, 2022.
The investigation revealed that forensic reports on two smartphones confirmed that these devices were used by the accused to send offensive statements with the intent to hurt the complainant.
It is understood that the content of the messages consisted of images with the caption ‘gay’.
It was also understood that the accused committed this act due to dissatisfaction with the complainant, who was his former partner and was about to marry a woman chosen by his family.
The prosecution was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutor Norshafatihah Nor Azmi, while the accused was not represented by legal counsel. — DayakDaily
