Woman Charged With Pornography After Tweeting Image Of Vulvas In Support Of Period Pad Ad
She could be slapped with a maximum fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment for up to one year, or both, if found guilty, and a further fine of RM1,000 for each day the offence is continued after conviction.
By Sadho Ram — 06 Jul 2022, 04:48 PM — Updated over 2 years ago
A 25-year-old married woman has been charged with disseminating pornography at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court after uploading an image of vulvas in support of a sanitary pad design on Twitter
The woman — Amira Nur Afiqah Agus Salim, who works as an operator at a hotel company — pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to her before judge Norhasniah Abdul Razak on Tuesday, 5 July.
Amira, who has a child, was charged with knowingly making and initiating the transmission of obscene communication, namely pornographic pictures, with the intention of offending others through the Twitter account ‘@amiranafqh’ at 7.27pm on 19 September 2021, a Bernama report stated yesterday.
In her tweet, Amira had posted a collage of vulvas in comparison to the use of a flower to represent a vulva in a local advertisement
She was trying to show how the use of flower patterns as a representation of the vulva in the packaging of the sanitary pad brand is not offensive after it drew religious ire in the country.
A screenshot of the sanitary pad advertisement with the flower pattern used as the representation of a vulva.
Image via TwitterAmira faces a hefty fine and imprisonment if she's found guilty under Section 233 (1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998
She could be slapped with a maximum fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment for up to one year, or both, and a further fine of RM1,000 for each day the offence is continued after conviction.
The court has set 9 August for the mention, after hearing arguments from Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) prosecution officer Nur Nazhzilah Mohammad Hashim and defence counsel Adly Zulfadhly Zulkefly, who represented the accused.
The prosecution asked the court to impose RM5,000 bail against Amira, while the defence pleaded for minimum bail of RM2,000 as the accused needed to support her parents, reported New Straits Times.
"My client's husband does not have a stable income as he works as a freelance video editor. We will also be writing a representation letter to the Attorney General's Chambers to dismiss the case," he said.
The court set RM3,000 bail and ordered Amira to report to the nearest police station once a month.
