Danish citizen is first person convicted under Malaysian anti-fake news law, jailed 1 week, fined $2,500
Danish citizen is first person convicted under Malaysian
anti-fake news law, jailed 1 week, fined RM10,000
PUBLISHED APR 30, 2018, 10:32 AM SGT UPDATED APR 30, 2018,
5:40 PM
KUALA LUMPUR - A
Danish national has become the first person to be convicted under Malaysia’s
new anti-fake news law.
Salah Salem Saleh Sulaiman, 46, on Monday (April 30)
pleaded guilty to maliciously publishing fake news in the form of a YouTube
video on the recent shooting of Fadi al-Batsh, an alleged member of militant
Palestine group Hamas in Kuala Lumpur, reported The Star.
He was sentenced to a week’s jail and fined RM10,000
(S$3,378) under the Anti-Fake News Act which came into force on April 11 and
provides for stiff punishments of up to six years in prison and a maximum fine
of RM500,000.
Salah will spend a month in jail because he could not pay
the RM10,000 fine.
The Cyber Court, where the case was heard, played the
video, in which he claimed he was with the victim when he was shot. He said in
the video he had made countless calls to the police who only arrived at the
scene 50 minutes later, while an ambulance came an hour later.
Malaysian police have denied Salah’s claims. National
police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said a
day after the shooting that their records showed a distress call was received
at 6.41am and a patrol car arrived at the scene eight minutes later.
Salah was accused of committing the offence between
6.50am and 9am on April 21 in Setapak, where Palestinian engineering lecturer
Mr al-Batsh was shot dead by two assailants on a motorcycle.
The suspect, who is of Yemeni descent, did not know Mr
al-Batsh personally, the Sun Daily reported. The daily cited sources saying
Salah was jobless and had previously worked as a horse groomer in Denmark.
Salah also faced an additional charge under section
233(3) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, for uploading false
communication with the intent to annoy, abuse or threaten another person.
The second charge carries a lighter sentence of up to one
year’s prison and a maximum RM50,000 fine.
Salah, who was not represented by a lawyer, pleaded guilty
to the first charge.
Deputy public prosecutor Noor Jazilah Mohd Yushaa urged
the court for an appropriate punishment, saying the video had damaged the
reputation of the police and the nation.
“The high fine stipulated shows it’s a serious offence,
and something that needs to be addressed. A stiff penalty would be a lesson not
just to the accused, but the public at large,” she said, as quoted by The Star.
In mitigation, Salah said he was a visitor, having only
been in Malaysia for 10 days at the time of his offence. He said he did not
know Malaysia had such a law.
However, he admitted it was a mistake and apologised for
any hurt that the video may have caused.
Sessions Court Judge Zaman Mohd Noor sentenced him to a
week’s jail from the date of arrest and a fine of RM10,000.
As Salah had been in remand since being arrested on April
23, the jail term was considered served.
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