Earlier this month, police said the two men pleaded guilty to possessing obscene material under Section 292 of the Penal Code and were fined RM3,000 and RM6,000 by the Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam magistrates’ courts respectively.
In a statement today, Suhakam children’s commissioner Farah Nini Dusuki said the penalties were “grossly inadequate”, especially as the arrests were a result of international cooperation with authorities in Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.
“The minimal fines were just a slap on the wrist for these offenders as they can easily afford to pay them, considering that they were professionals,” she said in a statement.
“The manifestly inadequate punishments has made a mockery of the justice system.”
Noting that Section 292 of the Penal Code provides for imprisonment of up to three years, a fine, or both, Farah called on the AGC to appeal against the fines and insist on appropriate severe punishments that would have a deterrent effect on potential offenders.
She also said the duo should be charged under Section 10 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act, which provides for imprisonment of up to five years, or a maximum RM10,000 fine, or both for possession of child pornography.
Stressing that lenient sentences will not serve the public interest and may give the unintended wrong impression that possession of obscene objects/CSAM is tolerable, Farah said harsher penalties were crucial to convey the message that such crimes — especially when committed against children — are heinous and should be punished accordingly.
Farah also supported the police recommendation for legislation requiring telecommunications companies and internet service providers (ISPs) to keep a record of their subscribers’ IP addresses for at least two years.
She said that as there is no law requiring telecommunications companies or ISPs to retain subscribers’ data, the police could not obtain information linked to 16 other IP addresses – and were only able to act on four IP addresses.
On April 4, deputy inspector-general of police Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said Bukit Aman arrested four men found in possession of more than 50,000 files of CSAM on March 20 as part of Operation Cyber Guardian.
While two men were fined, the other two are still being investigated. He said the four men arrested comprised a civil servant, an accountant, a web designer and a WiFi installation instructor.
A total of 435 suspects across the six countries involved were arrested during Operation Cyber Guardian.