A former photographer of a production company pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court today to two charges of insulting Hinduism on his Facebook account.

Zamri Abdul Razak, 52, attired in blue jeans and a black T-shirt with the word ‘PHOTOGRAPHER’ on the back, registered the plea after the charges were read out to him by an interpreter before judge Zamri Bakar.

He nodded when the interpreter asked him for his plea.

The court fixed March 18 for sentencing and allowed Zamri to be released on a bail of RM15,000, in one surety.

Zamri was charged under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, also punishable under Section 233(3) of the same act, that provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000 or up to one year’s jail, or both, upon conviction and a fine of RM1,000 for every day that the offence is repeated after conviction.

DPP Muhamad Asyraf Md Kamal did not offer bail, saying the offence was a serious one, considering that many cases of insults against religion had occurred of late.

Zamri, who was unrepresented, appealed to be given bail of a small sum, saying he is unemployed, had divorced from his wife and has three children and an ailing aged father to take care.

- Bernama