Bus driver video: Indie film-maker warned

SINGAPORE — The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) yesterday issued a letter of warning to independent filmmaker Lee Seng Lynn, after she published video interviews in which two former SMRT bus drivers alleged they were slapped, punched and threatened while in police custody.

The AGC said in a statement that Ms Lee’s conduct and actions amounted to contempt of court as she had created “a real risk of prejudice to the criminal proceedings which were pending then”.

On Jan 28, Ms Lee published on her website Lianain Films, two video interviews with He Jun Ling, 32, and Liu Xiangying, 33, who alleged that they were assaulted by police officers while they were held for questioning last November over an illegal strike.

The clips, which are between 60 and 100 seconds long, were subsequently circulated online.

The case concluded on Feb 25 when He and Liu, along with two others — Gao Yue Qiang, 32, and Wang Xianjie, 39 — were sentenced to jail terms of between six and seven weeks for instigating the illegal strike. All four have served their sentences and have returned to China.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had said in April that investigations found the allegations by He and Liu to be “baseless”, and that neither of them had raised any formal complaints “despite having had ample opportunities to do so”. No police reports were filed and the matter was not raised in court, it added.

The AGC yesterday said the allegations made by He and Liu that were published created “a real risk” that parties connected with the criminal proceedings, such as the trial judge and witnesses, would be “improperly influenced” in relation to making findings of fact or giving evidence on the issue of the admissibility of confessions made by He and Liu.

“These are matters that should be determined at a trial and not by publications that are made outside the court,” the AGC said.

At the time of the publication, Ms Lee was “aware” that criminal proceedings against the four former drivers were pending, the AGC said.

“Taking all the circumstances of the case into account, including the nature of the contempt committed and the resolution of the criminal proceedings on 25 February 2013, AGC is of the view that a warning is sufficient in this case, rather than proceedings in court to commit Ms Lee for contempt of court,” the spokesperson said.

Ms Lee could not be reached for comment yesterday. Posting on Facebook, she said she just saw the news and was rushing to catch a flight. “Will respond when I can,” she added.

While it said it “will not hesitate to take firm action”, including the institution of committal proceedings for contempt of court, the AGC stressed that these proceedings “do not target legitimate complaints or criticism” brought to the attention of the proper authorities through “proper channels”.

“Members of the public are also able to criticise or question the correctness of judicial decisions, after these have been given, so long as they do not make unfounded allegations of bias or partiality,” the AGC added.