Court quashes man’s conviction over ‘offensive’ post on socks issue

Chiok Wai Loong had pleaded guilty at the sessions court last month.

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has quashed the conviction and six-month jail sentence imposed on a technician over an allegedly offensive Facebook post on the “Allah” socks issue.

Justice Ahmad Bache said the court had looked into the notes and recordings of Chiok Wai Loong’s court proceeding on March 22, and found that the sessions court did not observe proper practice when recording the accused’s guilty plea.

“There was no mention that he understood the charge and consequences of a plea of guilt. The judge only mentioned that the charge and sentence were read to him.

“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 judge said.

Ahmad ordered that Chiok be charged again at another sessions court.

Last month, Chiok pleaded guilty at the sessions court to a charge under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act over his comments on Facebook. He was also slapped with a RM12,000 fine, which he paid.

He was convicted of posting offensive comments on Facebook over the sale of socks bearing the word “Allah”.

However, presiding over a revision application filed by Chiok’s lawyers, Ahmad said he found the entire process unfair to the accused.

The judge said he was duty-bound to ensure that Chiok did not suffer a miscarriage of justice.

Ahmad also reminded all presiding judicial officers to observe the time-honoured court practice of ensuring that all accused persons receive a fair trial.

Lawyer N Surendran represented Chiok while deputy public prosecutor Kalmizah Salleh appeared for the prosecution.