PETALING JAYA: A Singaporean security guard was sentenced to 14 days in prison and fined RM7,000 by the Johor Bahru magistrates’ court today after pleading guilty to insulting Islam last month.
Harian Metro reported that magistrate A Shaarmini ordered Anim Atam, 56, to serve his prison sentence from the date of his arrest on Tuesday, with an additional three months’ imprisonment if he failed to pay the fine.
Anim was charged with deliberately wounding another person’s religious feelings by uttering words that insulted Islam, which were overheard by another man at around 5pm on July 30.
The charge was framed under Section 298 of the Penal Code, which provides for up to a year’s imprisonment, a fine or both.
The complainant recorded a video of Anim and posted it on social media before lodging a police report on July 31.
Deputy public prosecutor Eizlan Azhar urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence, saying the case had been widely shared on social media and involved religion.
Anim, who was unrepresented, pleaded for a lenient sentence, citing high blood pressure and ongoing divorce proceedings which he said required him to attend a shariah court in Singapore.
He was arrested after a video allegedly showing him making insulting remarks about Islam while travelling in an e-hailing vehicle in Johor Bahru went viral on social media.
