Kota Kinabalu: A 30-year-old man who sent pornographic pictures to a woman via Facebook Messenger was fined a total of RM10,000.
Sessions Court Judge Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim meted out the sentence to Abdul Wahab Ismail who pleaded guilty to two charges against him on Tuesday.
The court ordered Abdul who is currently serving sentence for another offence, to pay RM5,000 or three months’ jail for each count.
On the first and second counts, Abdul had sent the pornographic pictures on Sept 4, 2019 at 9.56pm and on Oct 9, 2019 at 10.36pm via Facebook Messenger respectively, at a village in Bongawan, Papar. The offence under Section 233 (1) (a) of the Multimedia Communication Act 1998 and punishable under Section 233 (3) of the same Act provides for a fine of up to RM50,000, or a jail term of up to one year, or both.
During mitigation, Abdul Wahab who was not represented, asked for leniency saying that he had been in prison for more than a year for another offence.
However, Prosecuting Officer Nazrul Nizam from the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission, urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence as to give lesson not only to Abdul Wahab but the public at large to not commit such offence.
Nazrul further submitted that the pictures sent by Abdul Wahab via the Facebook Messenger, was related to the woman’s dignity and that she was worried that Abdul Wahab will spread the pictures to others.
Abdul Wahab did not pay the fine.
