KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 — An Indonesian woman was sentenced to one week in jail and fined RM1,000 by the Magistrate’s Court here today after she pleaded guilty to making a false statement in connection with the spread of Covid-19 infection on her Facebook account.
Fui Lina, 31, made the plea after the charge was read to her by an interpreter before Magistrate Wong Chai Sia.
The court ordered Fui, who works as sales promoter, to serve her jail sentence beginning today and she was also fined RM1,000, in default of one month’s jail.
Fui was alleged to have posted the statement on her Facebook account under the name ‘Kimiko’ about the Covid-19 infection, with the intent to cause public mischief.
She was accused to have committed the offence via her Facebook posting at a house in Taman Danau Kota, Setapak, here at 9.55pm on February 1, 2020 and she was charged under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of two years or a fine or both, upon conviction.
Earlier, the accused appealed for a minimum fine on the grounds that she was a single mother.
However, deputy public prosecutor Wan Ahmad Hakimi Wan Ahmad Jaafar pressed for just sentence as the accused committed the offence and caused fear among the public.
“A fine alone is insufficient to serve as a lesson for the accused and the public,” he said.
The accused paid the fine. — Bernama
