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TWO men have been brought before the Sepang Sessions Court in separate cases involving allegedly offensive social media postings touching on sensitive issues of race, religion and royalty (3R), with one sentenced to jail and the other claiming trial.
In the first case, Mat Derus Ali, 64, was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to uploading offensive content against the royal institution on Facebook in August last year.
He entered his plea before Judge Ahmad Fuad Othman after the charge was read to him in court.
Mat Derus was accused of knowingly initiating the transmission of offensive communication with intent to annoy others via his Facebook account at 2.15am on August 20, 2024.
The post was later detected by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) at its monitoring facility in Cyberjaya.
The offence was framed under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
Deputy public prosecutor Fadhli Ab Wahab told the court that the content amounted to a clear insult against the royal institution and contained elements of racial and religious provocation that could incite hostility.
In delivering the sentence, the judge cautioned that matters involving race, religion and royalty are highly sensitive and must not be treated lightly.
In a separate proceeding before the same court, retired soldier Marzuki Ismail, 52, pleaded not guilty to a similar charge involving an allegedly offensive Facebook comment posted in December last year.
He is accused of making and initiating offensive communication via his social media account at about 2.30pm on December 22, 2025, with the post subsequently detected at the MCMC monitoring facility in Cyberjaya.
The court granted bail of RM7,000 with one surety and set June 9 for mention. - April 22, 2026