KUALA LUMPUR – The high court has dismissed Chiok Wai Loong’s conviction and sentencing after he was found guilty by the lower court for putting up an offensive Facebook post over the “Allah”-printed socks issue.
High court judge Datuk Ahmad Bache found that the guilty plea was not recorded properly by the sessions court on March 22.
The judge also ruled that Chiok would be charged again at another sessions court at about 2.30pm today.
“The charge against him was so long, how do you (the prosecution and the court) expect a layman like him to understand?
“He was also not represented by lawyers that day.
“The applicant just said ‘faham’ (understood) and didn’t say that he admitted (that the offence was intentional).
“The accused wasn’t given an opportunity to clear his doubt in the sessions court. The charge must be explained and ensure the accused understands his offence.
This comes after deputy public prosecutor Datin Kalmizah Salleh read the recording of the previous sessions court’s proceedings.
Chiok, who was unrepresented in March, is represented by lawyer N. Surendran today.
Surendran told the press the charges against Chiok remained the same.
His charge was under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which carries a penalty of up to one year of imprisonment, a fine of up to RM50,000, or both.
On March 22, Chiok was found guilty for putting up an offensive Facebook post over the “Allah”-printed socks issue.
He was sentenced to six months’ jail and fined RM12,000.
Chiok was the second man to be charged for making offensive social media content over the “Allah”-printed socks issue.
The first was Sabahan Ricky Shane Cagampang, 33, who pleaded guilty in Kota Kinabalu in March. He was sentenced to six months’ jail and fined RM15,000 in default of four months’ jail.
This came after a photo of the controversial socks surfaced on social media recently, with a claim that it was sold at a KK Mart outlet in Bandar Sunway, Selangor.
Following this case, the founder and directors of KK Supermart & Superstore Sdn Bhd were charged in Shah Alam sessions court, for intentionally hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims by displaying the socks at one of its outlets.
Additionally, molotov cocktails were hurled at three KK Mart stores and the case remains under investigation. – April 18, 2024