A person made a comment on a Facebook post about the killing of past Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, saying someone else should treat the prime minister of Singapore similarly.
Kong Chee Kian, a 46- yr- old Taiwanese man, was sentenced to four weeks ‘ prison on Wednesday ( Mar 20 ) for one matter of inciting violence online.
Kong, according to the jury, disliked the Singapore state and the government’s head, the Prime Minister.
He chose to blame the government because he had trouble finding continuous employment and was “looking for someone to blame,” according to the trial.
On Jul 8, 2022, Kong was at apartment browsing the internet on his handphone.
He read an article about a person being detained following the shooting of Shinzo Abe.
The article was published by CNA on its Facebook page, and the message read,” The person is believed to possess shot Mr. Abe,” is included in the message.
Kong left a comment on the Facebook post, saying:” Lets someone do the same to our PM”.
Another Twitter user emailed him and inquired if Mr. Lee was threatened by this.
Shortly afterward, an anonymous private anonymous anonymous reported to the police that someone had threatened “our PM” and that they hoped to take action. The man claimed they were unsure whether this was a troll.
Kong was detained the following morning.
OTHER Feedback
Studies revealed that he had made another net comments about Mr. Lee.
Kong posted another post on a Facebook post by Yahoo Singapore about Mr. Abe’s death following his opinion on CNA’s Twitter site.
He stated,” Your great friend LHL will add you.”
About a month earlier, Kong responded to an Instagram post featuring a Tamagotchi toys that asked users to leave “wrong answers only” with “wrong solutions.”
Kong responded, claiming that the Tamagotchi was” the sole weapon against Singapore PM.”
Delicia Tan, the sheriff people attorney, requested four and a half to six months in jail for Kong.
Both parties cited the 2013 circumstance of Gary Yue, which established a three-month sentence in prison for incitement to crime.
Ms. Tan requested a longer prison expression than Yue, who was given a two-month sentence.
She stated that Yue’s circumstance was outdated and that Kong’s case should have a warning word, so a communication is sent out that using social media to incite violence against others will not be tolerated.
Kong had also expressly targeted the head of the government, and senior members of the government should be inoculated from such threats, said Ms Tan, adding that Kong’s offending was” sustained”.
Instead, defense lawyer Rajoo Ravindran from the Kertar &, Sandhu law firm, requested a two-month sentence in prison.
When Mr. Rajoo compared the case to Yue’s, he claimed that Yue’s was referring to a larger group of people, including heads of state and government.
The degree of potential harm was therefore much higher in Yue’s case than Kong’s, said the lawyer.
He continued, stating that Kong is regrettable and had fully cooperated with the police.
He also sought out counseling.
” Kong’s elderly father, who is around 80 plus, is in court today, and the family will be providing the necessary support for him,” said Mr. Rajoo, who added that the elderly father “promises to this honorable court that he will continue to be on the right side of the law.”
In response, the prosecutor said the threat in Yue’s case was to beat people up whereas Kong’s incitement was to assassinate Mr Lee, which is “more serious”.
In the sentencing hearing, District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam informed Kong that he must already be aware that his offence was extremely serious.
This is a serious offence that warrants a custody sentence. No fine. A fine would be unsuitable”, she said.
She noted that Kong’s comments were sustained and not just isolated. They were intended to be at the head of state, and they were specifically warned against assassination rather than just beating up.
The judge argued that “weaponizing social media platforms to incite violence today must be handled more firmly.”
” The aim of such a sentence is to deter likeminded offenders”.
For incitement to violence, Kong could have been jailed for up to five years, fined, or both.