10 hours ago
Woman charged over fake royal marriage certificate uploaded on TikTok
KUALA LUMPUR: A masseuse who had an arrest warrant issued against her last month for skipping court was brought before the Sessions Court today to face a charge of uploading a falsified marriage certificate involving herself and a member of a royal family on TikTok.
Persana Avril Sollunda, 43, was arrested by Bukit Aman's Classified Crimes Investigation Unit at her workplace in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, yesterday.
During proceedings today, Persana pleaded not guilty after the charge was read out to her before Judge Norma Ismail.
She confirmed that she understood the charge.
"I want to go on trial," she told the court.
According to the charge, she used a TikTok account under the handle " to create and upload a video containing a doctored image of a false marriage certificate involving a member of the royal family and Crown Princess Ratu Shana.
She allegedly committed the offence on Feb 25 with the intent to annoy others.
The post was accessed at about 10am on Feb 26 at the Cyber Crime and Multimedia Investigation Division of Bukit Aman's Commercial Crime Investigation Department, located at Menara KPJ in Wangsa Maju.
The charge under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act punishable under Section 233(3) provides a maximum RM500,000 fine or a jail term not exceeding two years or both upon conviction.
It also imposes an additional fine of RM5,000 for each day the offence continues after conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Nursyuhada Husna Sulaiman urged the court to set bail at RM20,000 with one surety and requested a date for document submission.
Persana, who was unrepresented, said she needed her "escort" from Sabah to assist with the bail process.
She also attempted to speak on other matters but was instructed by the judge to focus solely on her bail appeal.
In response, Persana said she had nothing further to add.
Norma set bail at RM10,000 with one surety and ordered Persana to report to the police station once a month.
The judge also directed her to appoint legal representation and set July 17 for mention.
