S Vikneswaran being brought to the Kuantan sessions court in March when he was charged with desecrating the Quran by stepping on it. (Bernama pic)KUALA LUMPUR: A former university student has been sentenced to 12 months's jail and fined RM250,000 or another year's jail for desecrating the Quran and posting grossly offensive content on social media in February.
Kuantan sessions court judge Harmi Thamri Mohamad imposed the sentence yesterday after S. Vikneswaran, 21, pleaded guilty. The prison sentence which takes effect from Nov 12.
The judge said the sentence was meant not only to teach the accused a lesson but also to warn the public against committing similar offences.
Vikneswaran's lawyer, Amirull Afiqq Lokman, had applied for a stay of execution of the prison sentence pending an appeal, citing his client's scheduled psychiatric treatment appointments. It was opposed by Pahang state prosecution director Sabri Othman who said there were no special circumstances to justify granting the defence request.
