KUALA LUMPUR: A factory worker didn’t learn his lesson after spending two months in prison as he was jailed again by the same Sessions Court for a similar offence he committed a year ago.
This time, 37-year-old Sharil Mohd Sarif, will be behind bars for 10 months after he pleaded guilty to two counts of insulting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong.
Sessions Court judge M.M. Edwin Paramjothy said it was clear that Sharil had intent to abuse whoever was reading his social media posts.
“The accused had used abusive language which had gone beyond freedom of speech, ” he said on Monday (July 6).
The judge also said he had considered the accused’s state of mental health.
“I have observed his demeanour. The prosecution had given him a chance to prove his mental issues but until now there is no proof to his claims, ” Edwin added.
The court then sentenced him to 10 months jail for each of the offences and ordered for the jail time to run concurrently.
Sharil was seen smiling after the sentence was passed.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Asyraf Md Kamal asked for a deterrent sentence on grounds that the accused had been sentenced for a similar offence in April last year.
“His offensive posts were made on the official Instagram account of Istana Negara during a live broadcast of the swearing-in ceremony for the eighth prime minister recently.
“The accused’s action has provoked rage and dissatisfaction from the public, ” DPP Asyraf added.
Sharil, who was unrepresented, told the court he was mentally unwell and asked for a fine.
According to the charge sheet, the accused made the two offensive remarks with intent to abuse others on his Instagram account “s.sharilbinmohd” between 10am and 1pm on March 1.
The remarks were read through a Facebook account under the name Muhamad Safwan at the Cyber Crime and Multimedia Investigation Division Office of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department, Bukit Aman.
Sharil was charged under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which provides a maximum fine of RM50,000 or up to a years’ jail, or both, if convicted and a fine of RM1,000 for every day the offence is repeated after conviction.
On April 26, last year, the accused was sentenced to two months’ jail for insulting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on his Facebook page.
