The full report from Bernama is below. My comments are in red! You are most welcome to contribute to the discussion. Just mind your language, that is all.
This trial was about dented pride & bruised ego (the Health minister‘s) and someone with “brownie points syndrome” (the civil servant who lodged a police report after he had trawled Facebook looking for insulting comments. Do civil servants do any real work?).
A retiree was fined RM2,000 by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today for posting insulting remarks against Health Minister Dr Adham Baba via his Facebook account.
Judge MM Edwin Paramjothy sentenced Abdullah Sani Ahmad, 57, after he pleaded guilty to the charge. The court also ordered him to serve a month’s imprisonment if he failed to pay the fine.
Edwin said the court agreed with arguments put forward by the prosecution that the accused had to be more sensitive when making social media postings.
However, taking into account the criticism posted, in which Edwin said was not overboard and malicious in nature, the accused was penalised with an RM2,000 fine.
If the criticism was “not overboard and malicious”, why the hefty fine?
Abdullah Sani was charged with making insulting remarks against the minister, with the intention to hurt others, on his Facebook account under the name “Sani Ahmad” at 11.45pm on March 31 in which the remarks were read at the Health Ministry headquarters in Putrajaya at 8am the next day.
How did “they” know Abdullah Sani wanted to “hurt others”?
If the Minister or his ampu-bodekers were upset, why “read the remarks out at the Health Ministry headquarters again the next morning”?
Why publicise the remarks and draw attention to whatever it was that had been said? Just let it go lah…no need to be so touchy! Now the whole world knows that the minister and minions, are sooooooo sensitive….
The offence under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 is punishable by a maximum fine of RM50,000 or up to a years’ jail, or both, if convicted; and also a further fine of RM1,000 for each day the offence is repeated after conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Annur Atiqah Abd Hadi asked the court for a deterrent sentence that reflects the severity of the offence.
“I ask the court to impose a sentence that will serve as a lesson to the accused and also to the public so as to be more sensitive and considerate before making social media postings,” he said.
Now, we come to the heart of the matter!
The authorities targeted Abdullah Sani, as they wanted to make an example of him. These are bully boy tactics. The authorities are afraid of criticism and so they are using Abdullah Sani as a warning. Stop criticising, or else…
Ministers who make daft comments will always invite ridicule from the public.
So, why is the court bending over backwards to please the Minister, PN, the MCMC or all of the above? Abdullah Sani has already said it is first offence. Cut him some slack-lah.
So, why are the authorities fearful of criticism? Do they know that the rakyat will stop criticising, once ministers start performing efficiently?
If the Minister were to say and do stupid things, then he can expect a torrent of criticism from the rakyat. If he cannot take any criticism, then he should just resign.
So, whose daft idea was it to take this “insult” to trial? Was it the minister? Was it his minions? Was it MCMC? Was it the Little Napoleons in the backdoor PN government?
Do these people realise the amount of public money and time that was wasted?
In mitigation, Abdullah Sani, who was unrepresented, pleaded for a lenient sentence on the grounds that he had repented.
“I request to be sentenced today as it is quite a distance for me to travel from Jitra, Kedah. This is my first offence and I promise not to repeat it anymore,” he said.
The case facts state that the complainant from the Health Ministry office had read a comment posted by the accused on Facebook and later lodged a police report on the matter.
Who is the person from the Health Ministry office? Who egged him to lodge the police report?
Police time and public money were wasted on this farcical trial.
The message here is that only insiders have options and can express themselves. Neo-colonial propaganda and impunity has convinced us that we should fear our political and civil servants, not vice versa. The 3R bogeyman doubletalk has succeeded in casting a spell on Malays, even as they undergo further exploitation and impoverishment. The “tuans” hide behind distant offices, procedures, automated phone menus, propagada, and even laws, all implemented at public expense. The very worst laws are libel/defamation, sedition, etc.
Any dissent is a fundamental right. – Maximilien Robespierre
Dissent may even be bullying or intolerant; the only valid prohibitions are against obscenity, a genuine threat or incitement to crime. – John Whitehead