This was after Chow Mun Fai pleaded guilty to insulting Muslims through a Facebook posting in June this year.
According to The Star Online, Chow was handed the sentence under Section 233 (1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1988.
The charge read out to him was initially made under the Sedition Act, but he pleaded guilty to an alternate charge under the Communications and Multimedia Act.
The Facebook post said to have insulted Muslims and the holy fasting month of Ramadan was made under the Facebook account ‘Chow Jack 982' at the KL Performing Arts Centre in Sentul on June 12 this year.
He was also charged with insulting Prophet Muhammad in the same posting.
The Star Online reported that Chow’s counsel Ahmad Ridza Mohd Noh pleaded for a lighter sentence, saying that his client had regretted his actions and took responsibility for them.
But Judge Azman Mustapha handed out the one year sentence, ruling that "public interest trumps mitigation".
DPP Suhaimi Ibrahim prosecuted.
The sentence was immediately been criticised by Lawyers for Liberty and its executive director Eric Paulsen.
In his Twitter account, Paulsen (right)
said the judge was "clearly in error" in handing out the sentence as
Chow had pleaded guilty and should thus be given "a discount"."Conviction/heavy sentences for sedition and Internet offences should open our eyes - can't rely on the courts to stand up against Ops Lalang 2," he said.
Paulsen was referring to the recent spate of sedition charges against politicians, activists, and academicians, which he had dubbed as 'Ops Lalang 2'.
Lawyers for Liberty, in its own Twitter account, said Malaysia is becoming a "sad and small country" by jailing citizens for their Facebook comments.
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