Man fined RM20,000 over offensive communication on PM, AG

KUALA LUMPUR: A businessman was fined a total of RM20,000 by the Sessions Court here yesterday after pleading guilty to four counts of uploading offensive communication contents on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and AttorneyGeneral Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali on his Facebook page two years ago.

Azhar Mamat, 45, made the plea after the charges were read out to him before judge Zaman Mohd Noor.

He was fined RM5,000, in default a month’s jail, on each count. The man paid the fine. On the first three charges, Azhar, who has three children, was charged with using an application service through a Facebook profile of “Azhar Mamat”, at https://www.facebook. com/azhar.mamat , to have knowingly created and initiated the transmission of offensive communication with intention to annoy other persons between 10.16 pm on July 21, 2016 and 8.27 pm on July 27, 2016.

He also pleaded guilty to a charge with using an application service through a Facebook profile of “Azhar Mamat”, at https:// www.facebook.com/azhar.mamat , to have knowingly created and initiated the transmission of false communication with intention to annoy the feeling of other persons at 8.28 pm on July 29, 2016.

The links were read at Pertubuhan Jaringan Melayu Malaysia, No. A-1110, 11th Floor, Menara A, Pandan Capital, Jalan Pandan Utama, Pandan Indah here at 7 pm on Aug 15, 2016.

The charges were made under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which provides a fine of up to RM50,000, or imprisonment for up to a year, or both, upon conviction.

In mitigation, Azhar, represented by lawyer Adlizan Noor, said he earned RM3,000 a month and had a wife, who is not working, school-going children, and an an ailing mother to support.

Deputy public prosecutor from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Mohd Sophian Zakaria prosecuted.