JOHOR BARU, Feb 4 — A 53-year-old tailor’s assistant was fined RM4,000 at the Session’s Court here today after she pleaded guilty to writing inflammatory comments against the King in December.

Judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail imposed the fine after accepting the guilty plea of the accused, Norli Mohamed Yusof. He also ordered the accused to be imprisoned for six months if she fails to pay the fine.

Based on the charge, the accused is charged with publishing inflammatory words to insult the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim through Nori Norli’s Facebook account.

The offence was committed in Bandar Seri Alam near here at 2pm on December 11, 2024.

The accused was charged under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948, which carries a maximum fine of RM5,000 or a maximum prison sentence of three years, or both, if convicted.

According to the facts of the case, a complainant saw a photo on Facebook showing Sultan Ibrahim, together with Johor Regent Tunku Mahkota Ismail and the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, enjoying lunch at a popular asam pedas restaurant here.

The complainant saw that the Nori Norli Facebook account owner, who is also the accused, had uploaded comments that were inflammatory with a tendency to incite against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, before lodging a police report at the Seri Alam police station.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) investigation found that Nori Norli’s Facebook account was registered to the accused’s daughter’s mobile phone number.

Further probes revealed that the accused’s son confirmed that the Nori Norli Facebook account was owned and operated by his mother, the accused.

The case was prosecuted by Johor state prosecution director Abdul Ghafar Abdul Latif and Deputy Public Prosecutor Lydia Salleh. The accused was represented by National Legal Aid Foundation counsels K. Bharathi and P. Rajagunaseelan.

Earlier, the defence counsels requested that the accused be given a minimal fine since she pleaded guilty and due to her family’s difficult situation.

They argued that the accused was not under regular employment and is currently a tailor’s assistant with a salary of between RM400 and RM500 per month. Her husband is a food stall assistant with a salary of between RM800 and RM1,000 per month.

However, Abdul Ghafar requested that the court impose a proportionate sentence as the offence committed by the accused was of a very serious nature.

“This offence involves insulting words against the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong who is also the Sultan of Johor, therefore a proportionate punishment is necessary to serve as a lesson to other social media users to be careful and well-advised in using the platform,” he said during his argument.

Ahmad Kamal then imposed a fine of RM4,000 and also ordered the accused to be jailed for six months if she fails to pay the fine.