Facebook posts on 3R issues land two men in court; 64-year-old gets four-month jail, retired soldier fights charges

SEPANG, April 22 — Two men faced court action over offensive social media posts, with one jailed after pleading guilty and another claiming trial on similar charges involving sensitive issues of race, religion and royalty (3R).

In the first case, Mat Derus Ali, 64, was sentenced to four months’ jail by the Sessions Court here after admitting to uploading offensive content against the royal institution on Facebook in August last year.

He entered his guilty plea before Judge Ahmad Fuad Othman after the charge was read out.

Mat Derus was accused of knowingly initiating a communication of an offensive nature with the intent to hurt others via his Facebook account at 2.15 am on Aug 20, 2024. The post was later detected at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Tower in Cyberjaya.

The offence was charged under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

Deputy public prosecutor Fadhli Ab Wahab said the content amounted to a clear insult to the royal institution and contained elements of racial and religious provocation that could incite hostility.

Delivering the sentence, the judge warned that issues involving race, religion and royalty (3R) are highly sensitive and must not be trivialised.

In a separate case before the same court, retired soldier Marzuki Ismail, 52, pleaded not guilty to posting an offensive Facebook comment in December last year.

He is accused of making and initiating an offensive communication via his account at about 2.30 pm on Dec 22, 2025, with the post later detected at the MCMC Tower in Cyberjaya.

The court allowed bail of RM7,000 with one surety and fixed June 9 for case mention. — Bernama