KUALA LUMPUR: An activist pleaded guilty in the sessions court here today to charges of posting insulting comments on Christianity on her Facebook page last year.
Wan Asshima Kamaruddin, 38, an activist with NGO Pondok Hijrah Muslimah Malaysia (MUM), was unable to hold back her tears after changing her plea to guilty at her trial today.
Judge MM Edwin Paramjothy set June 15 to hear the facts of the case and for sentencing.
Wan Asshima was accused of making and initiating the transmission of offensive communications with the intention of offending others through a Facebook account in the name of “Puteri Mujahidah Wan Asshima Kamaruddin” at 9.23am, on March 11, last year.
The post was then read at the cyber and multimedia crime investigation division office of Bukit Aman’s commercial crime investigation department at 6.24pm, on March 13 last year.
She was charged under Section 233 (1) (a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, punishable under Section 233 (3) of the same Act, which provides a maximum fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment not exceeding one year or both, and a further fine of RM1,000 for every day that the offence is repeated after conviction.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Najihah Farhana Che Awang pressed for appropriate punishment to serve as a lesson to the accused and the public. She said a total of 61 police reports were lodged nationwide on the post by the accused.
“The most complaints came from Sabah, Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. I also ask the court to consider the fact that the case has entered the trial stage, with three prosecution witnesses having been called to testify, before the accused changed her plea to guilty,” she said.
Dorina Abdullah, who represented Wan Asshima, pleaded for leniency on the grounds that her client was the sole breadwinner of the family and had not intended to harm the public through her posting.
“My client is also going through a divorce,” said Dorina. - FMT
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