SINGAPORE: The chief editor of the now-defunct website The Online Citizen (TOC) was on Thursday (Apr 21) jailed three weeks for criminal defamation.
Terry Xu Yuanchen, 39, was found guilty in November last year of defaming members of the Cabinet of Singapore by approving the publication of a letter on Sep 4, 2018 that alleged "corruption at the highest echelons".
The writer of the letter, Daniel De Costa Augustin, 38, was sentenced to three months and three weeks' jail. He will start serving his sentence on May 4.
De Costa was convicted of a similar charge of criminal defamation and a second charge of unauthorised access to an email account not belonging to him, which he used to submit the article.
On Sep 4, 2018, De Costa sent an email titled "PAP MP apologises to SDP" to theonlinecitizen [at] gmail.com from an Internet cafe in Chinatown, intending for it be published on the TOC website.
That same day, Xu approved the publication of the email sent to it from a person named Willy Sum, titled "The Take Away From Seah Kian Ping's Facebook Post". Mr Seah’s name was misspelt.
The defamatory article said: "We have seen multiple policy and foreign screw-ups, tampering of the Constitution, corruption at the highest echelons and apparent lack of respect from foreign powers ever since the demise of founding father Lee Kuan Yew".
De Costa used an email account belonging to Mr Sim Wee Lee to submit the article to TOC under the name Willy Sum.
Mr Sim previously testified that he met De Costa while walking his dogs in 2005 or 2006, and they became friends. He allowed De Costa to use his email account to help him settle his bankruptcy and housing matters.
He later found out that De Costa had sent emails criticising government officers without his permission.
Both Xu and De Costa went to trial last year to contest their charges, and were convicted in November 2021.
For criminal defamation, Xu and De Costa could have been jailed up to two years and fined. For unauthorised computer access, De Costa could also have been jailed up to two years, fined up to S$5,000 or both.
The TOC website, founded in 2006, was taken offline in September last year after the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) suspended its class licence for repeatedly failing to to comply with its legal obligation to declare all funding sources.
The licence was later cancelled by authorities.
In December, the High Court dismissed a bid by the website to overturn orders by IMDA to close its Chinese-language website and social media accounts.
Continue reading...
Terry Xu Yuanchen, 39, was found guilty in November last year of defaming members of the Cabinet of Singapore by approving the publication of a letter on Sep 4, 2018 that alleged "corruption at the highest echelons".
The writer of the letter, Daniel De Costa Augustin, 38, was sentenced to three months and three weeks' jail. He will start serving his sentence on May 4.
De Costa was convicted of a similar charge of criminal defamation and a second charge of unauthorised access to an email account not belonging to him, which he used to submit the article.
On Sep 4, 2018, De Costa sent an email titled "PAP MP apologises to SDP" to theonlinecitizen [at] gmail.com from an Internet cafe in Chinatown, intending for it be published on the TOC website.
That same day, Xu approved the publication of the email sent to it from a person named Willy Sum, titled "The Take Away From Seah Kian Ping's Facebook Post". Mr Seah’s name was misspelt.
The defamatory article said: "We have seen multiple policy and foreign screw-ups, tampering of the Constitution, corruption at the highest echelons and apparent lack of respect from foreign powers ever since the demise of founding father Lee Kuan Yew".
De Costa used an email account belonging to Mr Sim Wee Lee to submit the article to TOC under the name Willy Sum.
Mr Sim previously testified that he met De Costa while walking his dogs in 2005 or 2006, and they became friends. He allowed De Costa to use his email account to help him settle his bankruptcy and housing matters.
He later found out that De Costa had sent emails criticising government officers without his permission.
Both Xu and De Costa went to trial last year to contest their charges, and were convicted in November 2021.
For criminal defamation, Xu and De Costa could have been jailed up to two years and fined. For unauthorised computer access, De Costa could also have been jailed up to two years, fined up to S$5,000 or both.
The TOC website, founded in 2006, was taken offline in September last year after the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) suspended its class licence for repeatedly failing to to comply with its legal obligation to declare all funding sources.
The licence was later cancelled by authorities.
In December, the High Court dismissed a bid by the website to overturn orders by IMDA to close its Chinese-language website and social media accounts.
Continue reading...