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Gag order on voyeur would have 're-victimised' his victims: Chief Justice

In his grounds of decision to dismiss an appeal by Colin Chua Yi Jin to reimpose a gag order on his identity, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said such a move would re-victimise the women whom he had photographed and filmed.
In his grounds of decision to dismiss an appeal by Colin Chua Yi Jin to reimpose a gag order on his identity, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said such a move would re-victimise the women whom he had photographed and filmed.

SINGAPORE — A continued gag order on the identity of 23-year-old voyeur Colin Chua Yi Jin could have added to his victims' trauma and hampered their recovery, given that all of them supported its disclosure, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said. 

On Sept 24, the Chief Justice had dismissed an appeal by Chua, who had filmed voyeuristic videos of almost a dozen female friends, to overrule the lifting of a gag order on his identity by a lower court. The full grounds of his decision was released to the media on Friday (Dec 24).

When Chua pleaded guilty in July, the district judge lifted the gag order on his identity after all of his 11 victims gave victim impact statements asking for Chua’s identity to be revealed and said they consented to the risk of being identified when his name was published in the media.

In his grounds of decision, the Chief Justice noted that one victim said that she felt “very worried and powerless” when she saw Chua posting on social media with other female friends and wanted to warn these women of his crimes, but was legally forbidden to because of the gag order then. 

The Chief Justice added that Chua’s application was “wholly self-serving” and that he clearly had no genuine interest in protecting the victims, adding that it was “bound to fail”.

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