Man, 32, charged for inciting violence against President Halimah; remanded in IMH for medical assessment

SINGAPORE — A 32-year-old man was hauled back to court on Friday (May 5) for allegedly publishing a social media post that threatened bodily harm to President Halimah Yacob.

The post by Vickreman Harvey Chettiar was allegedly put up when he was out on bail for a charge related to committing mischief and two others under the Protection from Harassment Act. 

Court documents stated that Vickreman now faces a new charge under the Protection from Harassment Act for making a threatening communication with the intent to “provoke the use of unlawful violence by another person against the President of Singapore”.

The post was alleged to have been made on April 30 at around 7am on his Instagram account.

Vickreman was alleged to have written in his post that President Halimah Yacob “deserves to be dragged out of the Presidential Palace by Singapore patriots, brought to near the Parliament House, strung up from lamp-post 4F, and hanged by the neck until all life has completely departed her body”. 

When TODAY checked Vickreman's social media account, the original post that contained the threat he had allegedly made could not be found.

However, a post was published on the Instagram highlight feature, titled Lim Kopi, around May 2 that juxtaposed the alleged threat he made against President Halimah alongside another post about his opposition to the hanging of Tangaraju Suppiah — a Singaporean man who was executed on April 26 for trafficking cannabis.

Lim Kopi is a Hokkien phrase, which means "to drink coffee", and it is a slang commonly used to refer to being interviewed by the police. 

Before Tangaraju’s execution, there was widespread attention on the then 46-year-old’s case, which included a petition for a stay of his execution.

British billionaire Richard Branson also wrote a blog post condemning Tangaraju’s death sentence, which led the Ministry of Home Affairs to respond by stating that Mr Branson’s views showed "disrespect" for Singapore’s judges and criminal justice system.

OTHER CHARGES

The court heard on Friday that Vickreman’s latest offence took place while he was out on bail for other non-related cases.

For the charge of mischief, Vickreman is alleged to have flipped over and broken a marble table, worth around S$308, at the Supreme Court on the morning of Feb 3 in 2020.

Vickreman also faces two other charges under the Protection from Harassment Act.

The first charge relates to a post Vickreman allegedly put up on Instagram on Nov 18 in 2021, where he claimed to have been raped by another man and would be “grateful to any vigilante who is willing to hunt down and castrate the rapist”.

The man’s home address was said to have been included in the post.

The second charge relates to another Instagram post on Nov 15 that year, in which he is alleged to have used threatening words against an investigation officer from the Singapore Police Force.

Vickreman is alleged to have written: “I sincerely hope that terrorism will occur in Singapore targeted at the police”.

He allegedly wanted the Bedok Police Divisional headquarters to be “levelled” by such a terrorist act so that the “pigs therein”, including the investigation officer, are “roasted in the burning building”.

REMAND AT IMH

During the hearing on Friday, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Shaun Lim called for Vickreman’s bail to be revoked and for him to be remanded in the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for a medical assessment.

Ms Joyce Khoo from Quahe Woo and Palmer law firm, who was assigned to the case through the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, did not object to the prosecution’s application.

However, she told the court, which was presided by District Judge Janet Wang, that Vickreman had a “previous traumatic experience” of being remanded at IMH. Details on this were not stated in court.

Ms Khoo therefore asked for special care or arrangements to be considered by IMH for Vickreman.

District Judge Wang granted the application by the prosecution and the accused is scheduled to return to court on May 19.

If found guilty of threatening President Halimah, the offender could be fined up to S$5,000 or jailed up to a year, or both.

As for the mischief charge, if found guilty, Vickreman could be jailed up to a year or fined, or both.

If found guilty of calling for his alleged rapist to be hurt, Vickreman could be fined up to S$5,000 or jailed up to six months, or both.

As for the alleged threats against the police investigation officer, if found guilty, he could be fined up to S$5,000 or jailed up to a year, or both.

Editor's note: The article has been updated to include only information available in the court documents and proceedings.