Rahim Thamby Chik fined RM1,900

Rahim Thamby Chik fined RM1,900

Ex-Malacca CM pleads guilty to using his Facebook account to make comments of a seditious nature against the Raja Muda of Selangor.

Rahim-Thamby
SHAH ALAM: Former Malacca chief minister Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik was fined RM1,900 by a Sessions Court after he pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of using his Facebook account to make and send comments of a seditious nature against the Raja Muda of Selangor.

The prosecution, led by Nik Suhaimi Nik Sulaiman, then dropped the principal charge of sedition.

Rahim, 66, also offered an unreserved apology to the crown prince in a statement read in court by his lawyer Ahmad Al-Hadi Abdul Razak.

Meanwhile, lead counsel Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin mitigated for the court to consider Rahim’s long service to the nation.

“He was a chief minister and a former deputy minister of home affairs,” he told judge Slamat Yahya.

He was fined RM1,900 or three month’s jail. Rahim paid the fine.

In October 2015, Rahim pleaded not guilty to publishing a seditious post alleging that Selangor Raja Muda Tengku Amir Shah was an apostate in his Facebook account.

He was alleged to have committed the offence via his Facebook account here on Sept 25, 2015.

Those found guilty can be fined a maximum RM5,000 or jailed up to three years or both.

He had also pleaded not guilty, at the earlier hearing, to the alternative charge of using his Facebook account to make and send comments of a seditious nature with the intention of hurting the feelings of another person, at the same place, time and date. However, he pleaded guilty to this charge today.

The charge, framed under the Communications and Multimedia Act enables the court to impose a fine of up to RM50,000 or a maximum jail term of one year or both upon conviction.

The media had reported that Rahim had uploaded the status in his Facebook account alleging Tengku Amir Shah had become an apostate.

On Sept 30, 2015, the Selangor Royal Council had issued a statement strongly denying that Tengku Amir Shah had allegedly changed religion.

Rahim was also reported to have issued an open apology to Tengku Amir Shah through his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

In March, the Attorney-General’s Chambers dismissed Rahim’s representation to drop the charges.

Four days of trial had been scheduled from today.

 

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