Man sentenced to four months’ jail for inciting violence against PM Lee Hsien Loong on Facebook post about ex-Japan PM Shinzo Abe's shooting
In sentencing, the judge said that this was a serious offence which warranted jail time, and that a fine would have been unsuitable.
SINGAPORE — A man who left a comment on a Facebook post about the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that said someone should do something similar to Singapore’s prime minister was sentenced to four months’ jail on Wednesday. (20 March). Kong Chee Kian, 46, was convicted over one count of inciting violence electronically, local media CNA reported.
According to the prosecution, Kong was unable to find permanent employment due to health reasons when he committed the offence, and was “looking for someone to blame”. He chose to direct his dissatisfaction into dislike for the Singapore government and its leader, the Prime Minister, the court heard.
Kong had come across a Facebook post by CNA about a man who was taken into custody after the assassination on 8 July 2022. The caption wrote that the man was believed to have shot the former Prime Minister.
Kong then wrote in the comments, “Pls someone do the same to our PM.”
His actions were then reported to the police and he was arrested the same day within five hours.
Multiple hate comments made towards the PM
Investigations later revealed that this was not the only online comment against the Prime Minister that Kong had made.
On a Yahoo Singapore Facebook post about Abe dying after the shooting, Kong wrote in the comments: “your good friend LHL will join you”.
According to CNA, Kong had also commented on an Instagram post that depicted a Tamagotchi toy, saying that the gadget was “the only weapon against the (Singapore) PM”.
In court, Deputy Public Prosecutor Delicia Tan sought up to six months’ jail for the accused. She referred to the case of Gary Yue, who got two months’ jail for incitement to violence, arguing that Yue’s case was dated and Kong should be given a deterrent sentence.
This would send a clear message that the public should not use social media to incite violence against others, CNA reported DPP Tan as saying. She also stated that Kong had “sustained” his effects against the Prime Minister.
The defence also cited Yue’s case, arguing that Yue had gone against a larger group of people that included heads of government and state. Hence, the potential harm that his actions could have caused is much higher than Kong’s, said defence lawyer Rajoo Ravindran from Kertar & Sandhu law firm.
He asked the court to consider two months’ jail instead, adding that Kong was a first-time offender and had fully cooperated with the police. He also stated that Kong was remorseful, had sought counselling help and had the support of his family to “remain on the right side of the law”.
Sentence meant to deter other potential like-minded offenders, fine unsuitable: Judge
CNA reported District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam told Kong he should know by now that his offence was a very serious one, adding that it warranted a “custodial sentence” and that “a fine would be unsuitable”.
“Weaponising social media platforms to incite violence today must be dealt with more firmly,” said the judge, adding that the aim of such a sentence was “to deter like-minded offenders”.
Kong could have been jailed for up to five years and fined.
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