KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 — A man known only as Mohd Shahrizan has stepped forward and admitted to posting a fabricated message depicting Attorney General (AG) Tommy Thomas as anti-Islam.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Mohd Shahrizan apologised for his earlier post titled in Malay "Penghina Nabi dan Islam bukan penjenayah, mereka berhak lontarkan pandangan” (Those who insult the Prophet and Islam aren’t criminals, they have a right to express their views), which he said was wrongly attributed to Thomas.

"I have been made to understand that the viralled statement is absolutely untrue and the statement is defamatory to the Attorney General that could jeopardise his reputation,” the post read.

Mohd Shahizan said he should have been more careful and verified the facts before making comments, but blamed anger for his controversial post that that later went viral on social media.

"This was after another Facebook user named Foo Sing Wai was accused in court for offending the Prophet Muhammad and his wife Aisyah,” he said, referring to the inflammatory caricature of the two Islamic figures posted and spread on social media.

Foo, a 68-year-old man, has since been charged on two counts of causing disharmony and improper use of network facilities over his provocative Facebook post, to which he pleaded not guilty.

"I hope the Attorney General has the heart to forgive my mistake, which I promise not to repeat,” Mohd Shahizan said.

He added that he removed his post six minutes later, after realising the allegation was false.

He hoped he would be spared further action after his open apology to the AG.

The AG’s special officers lodged a police report in Putrajaya yesterday over allegations that portrayed him as anti-Islam.