Man pleads guilty to posting offensive comment on Perak sultan
PETALING JAYA : A former information technology officer at a media agency pleaded guilty in the Ipoh sessions court today to a charge of posting an offensive comment on social media regarding a decree by Perak's Sultan Nazrin Shah in February.
Utusan Malaysia reported that Ariff Zulkarnain Ameer Imam, 50, entered his plea after the charge against him was read before judge Meor Sulaiman Ahmad Tarmizi.
He was accused of knowingly posting a comment on an article on the Harian Metro Facebook page about Sultan Nazrin via the Facebook account of 'Ariff Zulkarnain Mohd. Imam'.
The comment was sighted at the complaints counter of the Ipoh police headquarters at 5.45pm on Feb 25.
The charge was under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for the improper use of network facilities, punishable under Section 233(3) of the same Act.
Ariff faces a fine of up to RM50,000, up to two years' imprisonment and an additional RM5,000 fine for every day the offence continues after conviction.
The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutors Nasrul Hadi Abdul Ghani and Nurul Hidayu Zakaria, while Ariff was represented by National Legal Aid Foundation lawyer M Saravanan.
Nasrul Hadi proposed bail of RM30,000 with two sureties and the additional condition that Ariff report to a nearby police station every month and surrender his passport to the court.
Saravanan requested the minimum bail, saying his client was fired for his offence and does not have a fixed income.
Meor Sulaiman set bail at RM10,000 with one surety, ordered Ariff to surrender his passport to the court until the case is complete, and set July 30 for sentencing.
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