Insulting King: Gardener gets two months’ jail

KUALA LUMPUR: A gardener was sentenced to two months’ jail by the Sessions Court here yesterday for insulting the Yang di- Pertuan Agong on his Facebook page.

Judge MM Edwin Paramjothy handed down the sentence on Sharil Mohd Sarif, 36, who had pleaded guilty to the charge.

Sharil, initially pleaded not guilty when he was first charged on March 22, but changed his plea to guilty on April 8 and his appeal was also heard on the same day.

The court had fixed yesterday for sentencing. The father of four children aged between five and 12 years, was ordered to serve the sentence from the date of arrest on March 15.

In sentencing, Edwin said attacks on the constitutional monarchy should be taken seriously, especially in this country where the people have deep respect for the monarchy.

“Such cases often raise the question of freedom of expression and the interests of the government in protecting public order and strengthening unity. Technological advancement means anyone who has a smartphone, can be a critic who can spread their opinions on social media very quickly, but this has led them to express their opinions without filtering and they can be very extreme and abusive.

“Although I agree with the deputy public prosecutor that a severe sentence will ref lect on the seriousness of the offence and will serve as a warning to the offender, the focus of sentencing should also be rehabilitation,” said Edwin. — Bernama