, Kuala Lumpur - A Danish man was sentenced to jail for a week in Malaysia on Monday after pleading guilty to violating the legal rules about fake news. He became the first person to be punished under the controversial law.
The fake news legislation, passed in early April, makes people deemed to be deliberately spreading false information, punishable by imprisonment up to six years in prison and a relatively large fine.
The law has sparked outrage from human rights groups who believe the rule is a pretext for the authorities to crack down on those with disagreements.
Salah Salem Saleh Sulaiman, a 46-year-old Dane of Yemeni descent, claimed to create and post on YouTube a video accusing the emergency service of responding to the slow shooting of a Hamas member.
Fadi al-Batsh was shot dead in Kuala Lumpur on April 21, 2018. The rocket-making expert was executed while heading to the mosque, to perform the morning prayers.
The victim's family accused Israeli spy agency Mossad of being a puppeteer. However, the Zionist state denied being behind the killing.
In the trial, Salah Salman Saleh Sulaiman, who was not accompanied by a lawyer, wore a white robe and green cap. He claimed not to know the law about spreading fake news in Malaysia. "I confess wrong, because I do not ask about the rule of law in this country," he said, in English, with a trembling body. Similarly, as quoted from Asiaonepada Tuesday (1/5/2018). A two minute video is playing in court. The footage shows the defendant speaking in Arabic and complaining about what he claims to be a slow response from Malaysian police and ambulance services after the shootings. The authorities have denied his claim.
Judge Zaman Mohamad Noor handed down a week-long jail sentence against the defendant, cut off the prison term he has served since his arrest on April 23, 2018. A fine of 10,000 ringgit (Rp 35 million) was also imposed. "If it can not 馃憞馃憞
