KAJANG: A freelance car rental worker reasoned with the magistrate's court today that he had put up stickers of the Israeli flag at a fast food restaurant because he was angry that his family members had died in Palestine.
However, magistrate Nurul Hafzan Ab Aziz, told off accused Tariq Hazim Mohd Yusri, 25, for his actions and reminded him to think of the consequences.
"Your actions did not make the situation better," he said.
He said this before fining Tariq Hazim RM100 in default one-day jail if he failed to pay the fine after he pleaded guilty to the charge.
The charge read that he had put up stickers of the Israeli flag which could have affected the peace of the staff in the premises.
He committed the offence at 4.42pm on May 29 at the premises in Batu 10, Jalan Hulu Langat.
The offence under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 carries a maximum RM100 fine upon conviction.
The facts of the case read that a female worker of the restaurant discovered several of the flag stickers pasted on the floor, front entrance and outer corridor of the premises.
She then informed the matter to her manager and a closed circuit television camera recording showed the accused committing the offence before leaving the scene in a car.
In mitigation, National Legal Aid Foundation counsel Nabilla Rosli, who represented the accused, pleaded for a minimum bail.
"He regretted his actions and he has to support his wife as well as his mother-in-law.
"His mother has gout while his father has heart issues," he said.
However, deputy public prosecutor Nurul Husna Amran urged the court to mete out an appropriate sentence taking into consideration public interest and so that the accused would not repeat the offence.
On May 31, a husband and wife were detained for putting up an Israeli flag at a fast food outlet in Kajang as a show of protest and boycott.
The couple, in their 20s, who tested positive for drugs, also had their car seized and were remanded.
It was part of seven cases of vandalism towards fast food outlets believed to be due to the recent boycott drive by Palestine sympathisers.
Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan had said until May 28, they had detected seven cases of graffiti and stickers or flags being put up at fast food outlets in Selangor.
He had said one case involved putting up an Israeli flag in Kajang, four cases involved graffiti with offensive words in Sungai Buloh and two cases occurred in Petaling Jaya.
Hussein said the graffiti vandalism cases at fast food outlets in Sungai Buloh and Petaling Jaya were believed to have been committed by the same suspects because the writings used were the same.
He added further investigations are ongoing to determine if all seven cases were related.
He advised the public not to be overly zealous about the Palestine issue to the extent of disturbing public order.
"Such actions will only entail them facing strict legal consequences."