37-year-old man first to be charged under new anti-stalking law

A freelance event management consultant was charged in the Magistrate's Court in Shah Alam today with stalking a female photographer, making him the first person to be charged under the new Section 507A (1) of the Penal Code.

Mohamad Safiq Rosli, 37, pleaded not guilty to the charge, which was read out before magistrate Sasha Diana Sabtu.

He was alleged to have stalked the woman by repeatedly harassing her through three communications on his Twitter account last month.

According to the charge, Safiq was charged with repeatedly harassing Acacia Mardiana Daud, 31, through the Twitter application under the account name "@sopert99" by sending three communications that expressed his feelings for the woman on her Twitter account "@ShaFoShizzle", which were read at a house in Shah Alam.

He was alleged to have committed the offence between 1.40am on July 15 and 5.58pm on July 21, despite knowing that the act was likely to cause her distress, fear, or alarm.

He faces imprisonment for up to three years, a fine, or both if found guilty.

Deputy public prosecutor Zilfinaz Abbas did not offer bail, taking into account that Safiq had previously violated bail conditions for a case involving the same victim in the UK.

Lawyer Fithril Hakim Ab Jalil, representing Safiq, did not object to it.

According to Zilfinaz, the accused was supposed to appear in court in the UK to explain breaching his bail on June 2, but he fled to Malaysia, resulting in his name being blacklisted in the UK.

"I was also instructed to send the accused for observation to the forensic psychiatry unit at Ulu Kinta Hospital.

"His family had also sent him to Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) for treatment, and the hospital has given a medical report on him today," she said, adding that Safiq has been warded to the psychiatric ward at HKL since July 17.

Meanwhile, lawyer Jason Wee, who is holding a watching brief for Acacia, applied for a protection order for the woman to avoid further harassment by Safiq.

"This order ought to be given to my client to avoid further harassment due to safety concerns. The accused flew to the UK to continue such acts against the same victim.

"We humbly pray to restrain the accused from going anywhere near the victim and not to communicate by any means with the victim until the conclusion of this case," he said.

Sasha allowed the prosecution's request to refer the accused to Ulu Kinta Hospital and will set the bail amount for the accused after the hospital has completed its observation of him.

The court also allowed Wee's application for a protection order and fixed Sept 7 for mention.

In a recent post on Instagram, Acacia revealed that she had been living in fear for eight years because of sexual harassment by a man on social media.

Her plight caught the attention of Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil, who advised Acacia to submit evidence, including police reports and screenshots, to the government's official email for further action.