Teacher charged over fake vaccine news under emergency ordinance

 

Under the emergency ordinance, those who create, publish or distribute fake news will face a fine of up to RM100,000, a jail term of up to three years or both.

JOHOR BAHRU: A tuition teacher is believed to be the first person to be charged under the emergency ordinance on the publication of fake news.

Mohd Nazaruddin Yusoff, 50, was charged at the sessions court here today with posting false news via Facebook.

The accused was said to have committed the offence at the Pontian district police headquarters at about 11.50am on April 21.

He claimed trial and was released on a RM8,000 bail. Sessions court judge Ahmad Fuad Othman fixed mention on July 7.

Deputy public prosecutor Tengku Amir Zaki Tengku Abdul Rahman prosecuted while the accused was unrepresented.

According to the charge, Nazaruddin claimed that a traffic policeman died after receiving his second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, posting on Facebook: “Mati lagi … di Pontian, Vaksin kedua.”

The posting was accompanied with a photo of three cops attending to the policeman. A policewoman was also standing beside them.

However, a post-mortem report later stated that the policeman died of a heart attack.

The Emergency (Essential Powers) (No. 2) Ordinance 2021 defines “fake news” as news or information that “is or are wholly or partly false relating to Covid-19 or the proclamation of emergency”.

Those who create, publish or distribute fake news will face a fine of up to RM100,000, a jail term of up to three years or both.

It came into effect on March 11. - FMT