KUANTAN: Two former civil servants attached with the Pahang State Secretary's (SUK) office were charged at the Sessions Court here today with 29 counts of performing unauthorised modification to the content of the website of the Pahang state honours and awards management system two years ago.

Mohd Isa Mohd Yusof, 36, and Muhammad Amer Syafeeq Aziz, 30, who worked as an operations assistant and administrative assistant, respectively, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges after they were read to them before Judge Maimoonah Aid.

Mohd Isa from Felda Sungai Panching Timur, here, faces 26 charges that were allegedly committed between Feb 19, 2020, and Oct 12, 2021, at the Pahang SUK office.

Muhammad Amer Syafeeq, who faces three charges, was alleged to have committed the offence between Aug 18, 2021, and Oct 4, this year at the same place.

The duo allegedly committed the offence by using their identification numbers to enter the names of 29 individuals as recipients of state awards conferred by the Sultan of Pahang into the website's system, without being authorised to do so.

All these individuals were actually not listed as recipients of Pahang awards, namely Darjah Sri Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang (SSAP) which carries the title of 'Datuk Seri' and Darjah Indera Mahkota Pahang (DIMP) which carries the title of 'Datuk'.

Mohd Isa and Muhammad Amer Syafeeq were charged under Section 5 (1) of the Computer Crimes Act 1997 and can be punished under Section 5 (4) of the same Act, which provides a fine up to RM100,000 or a maximum jail sentence of seven years, or both, upon conviction.

During mitigation, Mohd Isa, who was unrepresented, appealed to the court to reduce the RM10,000 bail offered by the prosecution for each charge on the grounds that he could only afford to raise RM20,000.

Meanwhile, lawyer Noor Azmi Kasani, representing Muhammad Amer Syafeeq, pleaded for the bail to be reduced as the accused, who is also from Kuantan, was only working part-time after his service was terminated on June 30.

"The accused only earns an income of between RM500 and RM700 per month. His wife is also unemployed and pregnant and they also have another child," he said.

Judge Maimoonah allowed Mohd Isa and Muhammad Amer Syafeeq bail of RM130,000 and RM15,000 with one surety each, and fixed Feb 13 for mention.

Pahang prosecution director Abdul Ghafar Ab Latif and Deputy Public Prosecutor Fathin Nadhirah Kasim prosecuted.

-- BERNAMA