SEPANG, Feb 20 — The Sessions Court has set March 11 to decide on a case involving cosmetics entrepreneur Datuk Seri Aliff Syukri Kamarzaman, charged with four counts of improper use of network facilities by uploading offensive video content on his Instagram account.
Judge Ahmad Fuad Othman fixed the date after hearing the submission by the defence and the prosecution.
Lawyer Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud, representing Aliff, submitted that there was a possibility that the video was not uploaded by his client and referred to the time at the office of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) when his (Aliff) assistant had filled in the user name and password of Aliff's social media account on the form provided.
"Aliff Syukri received the form, and he instructed the assistant to write without telling him what to write. The assistant wrote (the username and password) without getting information from Aliff Syukri before the form was handed over to MCMC.
“This means that someone else knows the username and password of Aliff Syukri's social media account," he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Public Prosecutor Faten Hadni Khairuddin, from MCMC, argued that it does not mean that someone who knows the information of another person's social media account is responsible for uploading certain content.
She said the results of the investigation found that the caption for the video titled 'Jangan Kecam Saya' clearly showed that it was written by Aliff.
"We seized the mobile phone belonging to Aliff Syukri and found all the information and video content material in the mobile phone.
"It is clear that the social media account is administered by Aliff Shukri himself," Faten said.
On Octember 13, 2022, Aliff, 38, pleaded not guilty to four charges of improper use of network facilities by uploading offensive video content on his Instagram account.
He was charged with sending offensive communications using the Instagram account 'aliffsyukriterlajaklaris' with the intention of annoying others on April 13, April 15, April 17 and April 21, 2022.
The charge, framed under Section 233 (1) (a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and punishable under Section 233(3) of the same law, provides a maximum fine of RM50,000 or up to a year’s jail, or both, if found guilty.
— Bernama