KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — The six-month jail punishment decided by Kuantan Sessions Court judge against a fish delivery worker over his Facebook comment against the police was too extreme, lawyer Syahredzan Johan said.
The aide to DAP MP Lim Kit Siang said although the comment posted did not conform to societal norms, the public prosecutor’s decision to prosecute that individual was a disappointment.
“I acknowledge that the law is still applicable and binded, but the Federal Government has expressed their intention to amend the Section,” he said in a statement, referring to Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act.
“On this basis, the Public Prosecutor should not bring any prosecution until the amendment is approved by Parliament.”
Syahredzan reiterated that in general, if the law gives discretion to the court to impose a fine, imprisonment or both, fine penalty should be taken first before the imprisonment.
He was responding to the earlier report today that the Sessions Court sentenced Mohd Hannan Ibrahim for posting offensive comments in regards to the death of two policemen in an accident at the East Coast Expressway (LPT) last Tuesday.
Earluer today, judge Siti Aminah Ghazali handed out the sentence to Mohd Hannan, 27, from Kampung Parit Tengah, Pekan, after he pleaded guilty to the charge.
The accused was charged with using his Facebook account to write an insulting comment on a posting in the ‘Komuniti Kuantan’ site about the death of the two policemen at 5.30pm on October 23.
Last Tuesday, Sergeant Major Roslan Maon, 50, and Constable Watson Edin, 23, were killed after their patrol car skidded and crashed into a metal guardrail at KM183 of the LPT near Maran.
They were escorting vehicles transporting Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination papers from Bentong to Kuantan when the accident occurred at 3.20pm.
