A MAN who was charged with cyber harassment for making a threatening post against Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape on Facebook a year ago was found guilty at Waigani National Court yesterday.
Acting judge Justice Laura Wawun-Kuvi, in committing Dominic Aku Jason, said his Facebook post against Marape was illogical and he had no lawful reasons to do it.
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| PNG PM James Marape |
“The post ‘PMJM, you need to step down a.s.a.p before bullet penetrate your head,’ on the Facebook group ‘Team O’Neill –Work Mas Go Yet’, was indeed threatening and targeted to Marape,” she said.
“While the constitution protects the freedom of speech, this is not a conduct or speech that the society is required to tolerate.
“It is unjustifiable in a democratic society to use a public forum to post threats to kill or take someone’s life.”
Justice Wawun-Kuvi said whether it was intended to be carried out or not was not the issue.
“The message was intended for Marape on a public forum, went viral and attracted a lot of attention,” she said.
She said Jason had admitted in court that he initiated the post because he was under family pressure.
“The Facebook group Team O’Neill –Work Mas Go Yet was a platform used by Jason and others to post messages in support of the former prime minister Peter O’Neill.
“Instead Jason used it to post a threat.”
Justice Wawun-Kuvi said Jason’s reason for posting the threat did not make sense.
The matter will return on April 4 for pre-trial report.
The National / Tech Pacific
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