Nairs handed two-year conditional warning for controversial rap video
Conditional warning issued to YouTuber Preeti Nair and her brother Subhas means they must remain crime-free for two years
The Singapore Police Force yesterday issued a 24-month conditional warning to YouTuber Preeti Nair and rapper Subhas Nair for a controversial online rap video they had produced last month.
The siblings had admitted to the police that they had produced and published the video, which came after a "brownface" advertisement featuring Chinese actor and DJ Dennis Chew portraying different races went public.
Following the statement by the police, Miss Nair said in an Instagram post: "We should all strive to be more accountable, both individually and as corporations. We don't need this to ever happen again."
Lawyer Ravinderpal Singh told The New Paper that when a conditional warning is given to an offender, he or she must remain crime-free within the stipulated time period.
If this is breached, then the accused will be prosecuted for the original offence and any other new offences, Mr Singh added.
A police report was made by Nanyang Technological University Public Policy and Global Affairs student Nabil Khairul Anwar on July 29 after the siblings posted the rap video on social media platforms on the same day.
OFFENSIVE SPEECH
The police said in the statement yesterday that after considering the circumstances of the case and consulting the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), they concluded that the video was in contravention of Section 298A(a) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.
The police said the video contained offensive speech targeting a race, and it could not be allowed in a multiracial society like Singapore.
"If this video were to be allowed, then similar expletive-laden, insulting, offensive videos, targeted at all communities will have to be allowed," the police added.
Mr Singh said that the intention to knowingly harm the harmony between different religious or racial groups has to be present to constitute a criminal offence under Section 298A(a) of the Penal Code.
He said: "There must be a clear distinction between what is criminal and what is socially inappropriate. In speculation, it could be the foul language (in the Nairs') video where there were objectionable words being repeated. The e-payment advertisement was not as overt."
The police had also received reports on the "brownface" e-pay advertisement, but the AGC had advised that there was no criminal offence disclosed in the advertisement.
A spokesman from the Infocomm Media Development Authority said in a statement yesterday that while the e-pay advertisement was in poor taste and had caused offence to minority communities, it did not breach the Internet Code of Practice.
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