KUCHING: The Sessions Court here has imposed a hefty fine of RM25,000 or a 15-month prison sentence on an engineer who pleaded guilty to sending racially and sexually explicit text messages via Short Messaging Service to a telecommunications company three years ago.
Sim Ngee Thiam, 45, admitted to five charges presented by the interpreter in front of Judge Afidah Abdul Rahman on Tuesday (July 4).
All charges stated that Sim willfully engaged in creating and initiating offensive communication through the SMS application service using a specific telephone number, with the intention to harm others. The incidents occurred on separate occasions in June, July, and December 2019.
Consequently, the charges were filed under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588), which carries penalties outlined in Section 233(3) of the same Act.
If found guilty, the accused could face a fine of up to RM50,000, imprisonment for up to one year, or both, along with a daily fine of RM1,000 for each day the offence persists after conviction.
Judge Afidah handed down a fine of RM5,000 or a three-month imprisonment for each charge against Sim.
It is understood that the offensive messages were directed towards an officer at a telecommunications company based in the Sarawak branch.
The prosecution was undertaken by officers from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, namely Siti Hajar Sulaiman and Nur Nazhzilah Mohammad Hashim.
Meanwhile, the accused was represented by lawyer Hii Yiik Yew.
