Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh has pleaded not guilty to the charge of spreading fake news via her Facebook page at the Johor Baru Magistrate’s Court.
Fuziah arrived in court accompanied by her husband Russly Abdul Rahman and several supporters.
The 61-year-old nodded her head and pleaded not guilty after a court interpreter read out the charges to her in front of Magistrate R Salini.
Fuziah is accused of committing an offence at Jalan Tasek Utara Kuarters, Taman Imigresen at about 10pm on April 9 when she allegedly released a statement on a Facebook account under the name “Fuziah Salleh” with the link https://www.facebook.com/YBFuziahSalleh that could cause fear or alarm to the public.
If found guilty of the offence under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, she faces a maximum jail term of two years, a fine or both upon sentencing.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy prosecution officers Nor Azizah Mohamad while the accused was represented by Hassan Abdul Karim and John Fernandez.
Earlier, before the proceedings, Hassan raised an objection and asked that the case be dropped, arguing that his client was not given an early notice on the charge under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code.
He also claimed that his client seemed to have been ambushed as she was not informed of the charge.
However, Nor Azizah argued that a summon was personally delivered to Fuziah in Kuantan yesterday (Tuesday) which mentioned that she has to answer to a charge under the section and that Fuziah even signed the summon.
During submissions for bail, Nor Azizah had requested bail to be set at RM10,000, but the court fixed bail at RM3,000 with one surety and set June 16 for the case’s re-mention.
It was reported earlier that Bukit Aman CID director Comm Datuk Huzir Mohamed had said investigations started on April 10 after the police were alerted to a video uploaded by a Facebook user with the name Fuziah Salleh.
The video claimed that there was a flood of Malaysians at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex in Johor Baru.
The footage had actually depicted a fire drill at the complex last year.