KUALA LUMPUR: Two months behind bars last year were not enough for Sharil Mohd Sarif to repent for insulting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong.
Today, the factory worker was sentenced to 10 months in jail by the same Sessions Court for committing the same offence.
Judge MM Edwin Paramjothy meted out the sentence after the 37-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of the same charge.
Clad in a dark blue shirt, the man smiled and was heard shouting 'yes' in the dock after the court passed the sentence.
Policemen then quickly ushered Sharil out of the courtroom.
In his judgement, Edwin Paramjothy said the accused failed to prove that he suffered from mental illness.
"I have observed his behaviour and the prosecution had given him a chance to prove his mental issues but he (Sharil) failed to provide legitimate documents from hospital.
"The accused had used offensive remarks which had gone beyond freedom of speech," he said.
He said it was clear that the accused had intent to abuse whoever would read his postings.
According to the charge sheets, Sharil had, via his Instagram account under the name s.sharilbinmohd, made insulting remarks directed at the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Raja Permaisuri Agong with the intent to offend.
Sharil's offensive comments were related to a live video on the Istana Negara's official Instagram page of the swearing-in ceremony of the eighth Prime Minister.
He committed the offences at between 10am and 1pm on March 1.
The remarks were read through a Facebook account under the name Muhamad Safwan at the Cyber Crime and Multimedia Investigation Division Office of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department, Bukit Aman police headquarters, at the 27th floor of Menara KJP in Wangsa Maju here, at 4.06pm, on the same day.
The offence falls under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000 or up to a years' jail, or both, if convicted; and a fine of RM1,000 for every day the offence is repeated after conviction.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Asyraf Md Kamal who prosecuted asked the court to impose a deterrent sentence against the accused.
However, Sharil, who was unrepresented, pleaded for minimum sentence stating that he has a mental issue.
On April 26, last year, the accused was sentenced to two months' jail for insulting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on his Facebook page.