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KUALA LUMPUR: "I only intended to toy with Harith Iskander's emotions; I had no other intentions… I apologise to the victim's family."
That was the plea of construction worker Izzuddin Md Salim, 30, who was sentenced to five months in prison and fined RM2,000 by the magistrate's court here today for making criminal threats against the family of actor and comedian Harith Iskander earlier this month.
Magistrate S. Mageswary handed down the sentence after the accused pleaded guilty to the offence today.
The court also imposed an additional one-month jail term if he fails to pay the fine.
Izzuddin's jail term will run from the date of his arrest on Jan 24.
According to the charge, the accused sent a WhatsApp message along with an image containing threats implying that he would commit rape and murder.
The message was sent to Harith's former wife and manager, Jezamine Lim, which caused her to fear for her safety.
Jezamine read the WhatsApp message while at a restaurant at 8.50am on Jan 23.
The offence falls under Section 506 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment, a fine, or both.
Earlier, the media reported that police had arrested a man suspected of making death threats against Harith and his family.
Meanwhile, Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP) cancelled the comedy show 'Punchline: Harith Iskander 35 Years of Laughter' following threats against the comedian's family.
In a statement, Jezamine confirmed that the decision was made jointly with DFP management, adding that Harith was disappointed, having spent months preparing for the show.
The threats stemmed from backlash over a controversial Facebook post Harith shared on Jan 21.
The post, which included a caption and comments from another account, Cecelia Yap Song KL, was accused of insulting Islam.