First person convicted under Malaysia's fake news law
Source: The Guardian
Danish national wrongly accused police of slow response after Palestinian lecturer was killed
Reuters in Kuala Lumpur
Mon 30 Apr 2018 05.00 EDT
A Malaysian court has convicted a Danish citizen over inaccurate criticism of police on social media, the first person to be prosecuted under a new law against fake news.
Salah Salem Saleh Sulaiman, 46, was charged with spreading false news after he posted a video on YouTube accusing police of taking 50 minutes to respond to distress calls after the shooting of a Palestinian lecturer on 21 April.
Police said they took eight minutes to respond to the shooting in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. The charge against Sulaiman said he had “with ill intent, published fake news through a video on YouTube”.
Sulaiman, who was not represented at the court hearing, pleaded guilty, but said the video was posted in a “moment of anger” and he did not mean any harm. “I agreed I made a mistake … I seriously apologise to everybody in Malaysia, not just in the Malaysian police,” said Sulaiman, a Danish citizen of Yemeni descent.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/30/first-person-convicted-under-malaysias-fake-news-law
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