Han Hui Hui told to apologise for, remove false online posts

SINGAPORE — The authorities have moved against blogger and former independent election candidate Han Hui Hui for making a series of false allegations surrounding her criminal conviction over a 2014 protest rally that disrupted a charity event at Hong Lim Park.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has asked her to remove a YouTube video and five Facebook posts alleging impropriety on the part of judges hearing her case, as well as publish an apology for these, or face contempt of court proceedings.

Separately, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a statement on Tuesday (March 14) repudiating Ms Han’s claims of mistreatment during her recent lock-up in the State Courts as “baseless and false”. She went to the lock-up because she did not pay the S$3,100 fine imposed on her for the case in question, after her appeal heard in the High Court was dismissed.

Ms Han, who unsuccessfully ran in the Radin Mas single ward in the 2015 General Election, alleged in her video and online posts between Jan 21 and Feb 25 that a district judge had lied about evidence and imposed the fine quantum to “politically persecute” her, with the aim of disqualifying her from parliamentary elections.

The AGC said her comments “wrongfully” insinuated that the judge had not acted independently in determining the sentence and instead acted on the instructions of others. They also wrongfully ascribed “a dishonest intention” to the district judge and insinuated that the judge’s actions in court and his judgment were meant to “malign innocent Singaporeans including yourself”. The AGC, which issued her a notice on Monday, gave her a week to remove her posts and apologise. 

Meanwhile, the MHA called out Ms Han’s claims of mistreatment in the lock-up of the State Courts as “baseless and false”. She wrote on her blog on Feb 23 that she was put through a “humiliating” body search that entailed removing her clothes, in view of male officers passing by.

Refuting the claims, the MHA said the Singapore Prisons Service had interviewed the relevant officers, as well as reviewed closed-circuit television footage and documents on the case. Ms Han was searched by a female officer, but she did not have to strip, said the ministry, adding that a privacy screen was erected during the search. The procedure was also done in the women’s wing of the lock-up, which is out of bounds to male officers, the MHA said.

The ministry said the blogger’s claim that Malaysian auxiliary police officers had made disparaging comments about Singaporeans were also “unfounded”, and it was “untrue” that detainees were denied toiletries after they had relieved themselves. Ms Han was also given lunch during her temporary custody, the MHA added.

The ministry had sharp words for Ms Han, saying she could have raised the issues at any point of her custody and the Prisons Service would have looked into them. While it would investigate all allegations thoroughly, “we will also vigorously defend our officers from baseless attacks to ensure that the integrity of our law-enforcement agencies is not undermined”.