[Public Prosecutor vs Rutinin Bin Sulaiman – K42-60-2010]
of evidence. For this reason, the failure to tender the outer box is not
relevant also.
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As for the witness statements that were taken during the investigation after
office hours, it should not have been an issue. The prosecution did not rely
on the statement of the accused person or his employees to establish a prima
facie case. They have relied on circumstantial evidence afforded by the
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online paper trail.
The accused was the owner of the shop and the holder of the internet
account which was used to post the remark in question. Although the new
section 114A does not apply to the instant case as the offensive remark was
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posted before 31st July 2012, the circumstantial evidence is sufficiently
strong to conclude that the accused had used the internet account that was
registered in his name at the material time. The accused is not required to
rebut any statutory presumption but he is still required to raise a reasonable
doubt that he was not responsible for the posting in question.
230
As for evidence in respect of intention, it is always a matter of inference.
From the fact that an offensive remark pertaining to the HRH Sultan of
Perak had been posted on the online visitor book, it can be inferred that the
accused had intended to cause annoyance. It is also unnecessary to call the
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victim of the annoying remark to the witness stand. Section 233(1)(b) does
not say that the victim of the offence must actually feel annoyed or abused.
The provision only says that the offender must have intention to annoy or
abuse. Therefore it is sufficient if the communication in question has the
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