KUANTAN: A former Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah student was jailed for 12 months and fined RM250,000 by the Sessions Court yesterday after pleading guilty to desecrating the Quran and publishing offensive content online.
Sessions Court judge Harmi Thamri Mohamad ordered S. Vikneswaran, 21, to begin serving his jail sentence immediately.
Harmi dismissed an oral application by Vikneswaran’s lawyer, Muhammad Amirull Afiqq Mohamad Lokman, for a stay of execution, ruling that there were no special circumstances to justify it.
The court also fined Vikneswaran RM250,000 for publishing offensive content online, in default of which he faces 12 months’ jail.
State prosecution director Mohd Sabri Othman appeared for the prosecution, assisted by deputy public prosecutor Fathin Nadhirah Kasim.
Vikneswaran had initially pleaded not guilty to both charges in March.
The trial was scheduled to begin yesterday, but he changed his plea to guilty.
On the first charge, he was accused of defiling the Quran, an object held sacred by Muslims, with the intention of insulting Islam and wounding the religious feelings of others.
The offence, under Section 295 of the Penal Code, carries a maximum jail term of two years, a fine, or both.
On the second charge, he was accused of using the Threads platform to create and transmit grossly offensive communications with the intent to annoy others.
The offence, under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, carries a maximum fine of RM500,000, up to two years’ jail, or both, as well as an additional fine of RM5,000 for each day the offence continues.
Both offences were committed at a house in Taman Seri Mahkota Aman about 1.30pm on Feb 22.
Vikneswaran was detained on Feb 25 following a social media post that allegedly touched on sensitivities surrounding race, religion and royalty, or 3R.
The Quran was seized from his bedroom.
According to the facts of the case, his sister alerted their father after coming across a social media post showing Vikneswaran stepping on the Quran in his bedroom.
His father confronted him and became the complainant in the case.
Investigations revealed that Vikneswaran had acted out of dissatisfaction with comments containing racial slurs on Threads.
He admitted to creating and transmitting the offensive content to hurt the feelings of others by using his mobile phone to share the act. The phone line was registered under his mother’s name.
Before he was charged, Vikneswaran and his father had apologised for his actions.
Separately, the university’s student disciplinary committee expelled him on March 24 after finding him guilty of disciplinary offences involving sensitive issues related to race, religion and royalty.