By Hidir Reduan Abdul Rashid | Malaysiakini
A businessperson was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) over a court case involving an alleged offensive Facebook posting linked to former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor.
The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court this morning granted DNAA to Syed Ahmad Saifullah Hashim over the charge regarding the online post that purportedly stated that Najib and Rosmah were onboard a plane that crashed in 2014.
After the proceedings, Syed Ahmad’s counsel Rajsurian Pillai confirmed the outcome.
“We had raised a preliminary objection against the charge (framed under section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998).
“Upon hearing submissions, the judge (Nor Hasniah Ab Razak) ruled that the charge was defective and granted DNAA,” the lawyer said.
Under the law, DNAA means the person released may still be charged for the offence in the future if the prosecution chooses to do so, unlike a full acquittal.
Syed Ahmad was also represented by counsel Jacqueline Hannah Albert. Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurilya Ellyna Nor Azwa prosecuted.
On July 21 last year, Bernama reported the businessperson claimed trial to the charge of improper use of network services.
The 34-year-old was charged with uploading the FB post which read “the plane boarded by the PM and his wife on their way home from Perth disappeared from the radar and was found crashed in the South Sumatra Sea. Al-Fatihah” under the profile name “Syed Saifullah”.
He was charged with committing the act with intent to offend others, between April 2 and 4, 2014.
The charge was framed under section 233(1)(a) of the act, and is punishable under section 233(3) of the same law providing for a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or jail time not more than a year.
