Gardener pleads guilty to insulting King on FB

KUALA LUMPUR: A gardener, who had pleaded not guilty to a charge with insulting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Facebook, changed his plea to guilty when the case came up for mention at the Sessions Court here yesterday.

Sharil Mohd Sarif, 36, made the guilty plea before judge M.M Edwin Paramjothy, who then fixed April 26 for sentencing.

Sharil was accused of using the Facebook profile “Shahril Chain” to initiate transmission of communication which was offensive in character with intent to annoy another person.

The posting was read at the Cyber Crime and Multimedia Investigation Division, Commercial Crime Investigation Department, Bukit Aman Police headquarters, 27th floor, Menara KPJ, Wangsa Maju here at 11.30 am on March 13.

He was charged under Section 233 (1) (a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which provides a maximum fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment for up to a year, or both, upon conviction and a fine of RM1,000 for every day that the offence is repeated after conviction.

Earlier, the prosecution, conducted by deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Asyraf Md Kamal , sought for a heavy penalty and fine on grounds that Sharil had violated the Federal Constitution by making insulting comments on an individual with high degree in the society.

“The offence committed by the person summoned is serious,” he added.

Lawyer M. Dinesh, representing Sharil, said his client could not afford to pay fine with his income of RM1,000 a month and requested to be imposed the minimum jail sentence as he is the sole family bread winner, with a wife and four children, aged between five and 12 years, to support.

In the same court, judge M.M Edwin Paramjothy also set April 26 for mention of a case involving a customer service personnel, T.R Thurkai Devi, 32, who was charged with the same offence.

The woman was charged with using the Facebook profile “Thurkai Devi Tangga Raja”, to initiate the transmission of communication which was offensive in character with intent to annoy another person. – Bernama