5th Pofma order issued to anti-death penalty activist group
Anti-death penalty group Transformative Justice Collective has been issued a correction order under Singapore’s fake news law over social media posts about the scheduling of a prisoner for execution.
This is the fifth time the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) Office has issued a correction direction for the activist group’s statements related to death row prisoners and legal processes.
On Dec 3, the group published posts on four social media sites – Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok – saying that a death row prisoner was scheduled for execution before he had the opportunity to submit his clemency petition to the President. This is not true, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Dec 14.
When the execution of the prisoner, Roslan Bakar, was scheduled and carried out on Nov 15, he had no outstanding relevant legal proceedings that would affect the carrying out of his sentence, added MHA.
“An execution will only be scheduled when a death row prisoner has exhausted all rights of appeal and the clemency process in relation to his or her conviction and sentence,” said the ministry.
On Nov 13, Roslan applied to the courts for a stay of his execution. But the Court of Appeal dismissed his application and rejected his argument that he did not have sufficient opportunity to seek advice and prepare a fresh clemency petition to the President.
This petition was to have arisen from another Court of Appeal finding that the Attorney-General’s Chambers and Singapore Prison Service were in breach of confidence and acted unlawfully over the exchange of a number of letters belonging to 13 death row inmates.
Roslan was one of the inmates who were seeking damages for unlawful practice, breach of confidence and copyright infringement.
He was sentenced to death in 2010 for drug trafficking.
In dismissing Roslan’s Nov 13 application, the Court of Appeal noted that more than a decade had passed since Roslan’s appeal against his conviction and sentence was dismissed. It also noted that he had lodged no fewer than five previous petitions for clemency, which had all been rejected by the President.
Roslan was also warned by his former lawyer on Oct 16 about the imminence of his execution, but did not submit his clemency petition despite having close to one month after the warning, added MHA.
The Court of Appeal further found that Roslan did not lack legal advice, and that papers for his stay of execution application were ready all along but were deliberately held back to create an “artificial crisis of time” once he was notified of his execution, said MHA.
It was only on Nov 13 that Roslan wrote to the President to request an order of respite on his execution. Roslan was notified on Nov 15, the day of his execution, that his request was rejected.
The Pofma Office was told to issue a correction direction to Transformative Justice Collective in relation to its Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok posts. The activist group will need to insert correction notices relating to the original posts, with a link to the Government’s clarification.
A targeted correction direction has also been issued to TikTok, requiring the social media giant to communicate a correction notice to all end-users in Singapore who had accessed, or will access, the post.
“Transformative Justice Collective has repeatedly promulgated falsehoods despite clarifications of facts by the Government. We advise members of the public not to speculate or spread unverified rumours,” said MHA.
In November, the activist group was also issued a correction order for posts that falsely claimed that three prisoners had been executed without regard for their intellectual and psycho-social disabilities.
Under Pofma, individuals found guilty of failing to comply with a correction direction without a reasonable excuse can be fined up to $20,000, jailed for up to a year, or both.
Individuals convicted of communicating a false statement of fact can be fined up to $50,000, jailed for up to five years, or both.
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