Ex-SIA pilot fined $3,000 for sharing photo of dead maid
A former Singapore Airlines pilot who had shared a photo of a dead maid hanging from a ceiling fan was yesterday fined $3,000 on two charges under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
Fazli Hisham Mohd Fairuz Shah, 29, had received the photo on Feb 1, 2017, from his girlfriend, a paramedic at the scene.
He shared the photo, along with another containing private information on the case, in a WhatsApp group that had 31 members, including himself.
Another member in the group later shared the photos with others, including three maids, one of whom then posted them on Facebook.
Fazli's girlfriend, Nurizzah Afiqah Hussain, 28, was then working for private ambulance operator Unistrong Technology. She had shone a torchlight on the dead woman's body while her colleague snapped the photo at the scene and later shared it with her.
She forwarded the photo along with another containing information on the case to Fazli.
She was fined $3,000 last year after pleading guilty to two OSA-related offences.
The police were alerted to the photo circulating on social media on Feb 3, 2017.
Fazli was found guilty on Aug 26 following a trial.
He told the court he was completely ignorant of Nurizzah's work and the nature of the photos and also claimed he thought it was something interesting to share.
But Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Zu Zhao said this claim of ignorance was inconsistent with his background as a section commander during his national service with the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
Yesterday, the DPP asked the court to impose a fine of $1,500 for each charge.
But Fazli's lawyer had asked for a fine of $1,000 a charge, saying his client had already lost his job with Singapore Airlines, and that his level of culpability was lower than that of Nurizzah's as he had shared the photo without much thought.
But the judge agreed with the prosecution's position, and fined Fazli a total of $3,000.
For each charge, Fazli could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to $2,000.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
