Man charged over fake news that sparked riot
KUANTAN: A van driver was charged in the Sessions Court yesterday with two counts of initiating the dissemination of fake news that resulted in a riot in the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP) last Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Mohd Shaiful Adhar Mohd Shukor, 30, of Taman Ria II here, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out to him before Judge Siti Aminah Ghazali.
According to the first charge, Mohd Shaiful had at 10.07 pm on July 10 used his Facebook account to initiate the dissemination of fake news of a racial assault at Gate 1 of the park.
According to the second charge, Mohd Shaiful is alleged to have used the same medium to initiate the sending of fake news on the same incident.
He was charged under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 with committing the offences with the intention to annoy or disturb others. Section 233 (3) of the Act provides for a fine of up to RM50,000 or a maximum jail term of one year, or both, if convicted.
Haryati Abdullah, who prosecuted, proposed bail of RM8,000 for each of the charges, but Mohd Shaiful, who was not represented, pleaded for a lower sum saying he had to take care of his mother and younger sibling and had started work two weeks ago.
The court allowed bail of RM10,000 for the two charges and set Aug 20 for mention and to enable Mohd Shaiful to appoint a lawyer. - Bernama