Orchard Towers fatal brawl: AGC directs police to investigate ‘false, baseless’ claims of preferential racial treatment of offenders

• AGC said it is aware of social media posts alleging preferential treatment of accused persons involved in a case
• The police will investigate the individuals behind the posts that “are potentially in contempt of court”
• AGC pointed out that sentences given to three persons in the case so far were in line with court guidelines

SINGAPORE — Allegations of preferential treatment for offenders on account of their race are “categorically false and baseless”, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said on Friday (Oct 16). It also said that the police will probe individuals who have made such allegations on social media regarding a fatal brawl case that is before the courts.

The AGC was referring to social media posts alleging preferential treatment of accused persons involved in the death of 31-year-old Satheesh Noel Gobidass at Orchard Towers on July 2 last year.

“Any allegation that the court imposes sentences on offenders on account of their race, and imposes harsher sentences if they are a member of a minority race, is categorically false and baseless,” it said.

The police have been directed to investigate the individuals responsible for social media posts that “are potentially in contempt of court”, it added. "AGC will not hesitate to take action against those who fall foul of the law.”

On Thursday, Chan Jia Xing, 27, one of the seven individuals charged in the high-profile case, walked free after being given a year-long conditional warning.

While it does not amount to a criminal conviction, it means that Chan must remain crime-free for 12 months or he can be prosecuted for the original crime.

He was accused of consorting with Tan Sen Yang, 28, who allegedly had a foldable Karambit — a small curved knife resembling a claw — while he was at Naughty Girl Club in Orchard Towers that morning.

Tan is facing a murder charge for the death of Satheesh.

In Chan’s case, the facts of the case and the extent of his involvement, such as him trying to stop the attack on the deceased and his co-operation with police investigations, were taken into account when issuing him with a 12-month conditional warning, AGC said.

The seven accused persons were initially charged with murder but six of them, including Chan, had their charges lowered.

AGC said that the charges against the six were reduced after thorough investigations found that they were not involved in causing the death of the deceased.

“At no point did the police and AGC take the race of the deceased and the seven individuals into consideration in its decision,” it added.

It said that the court had dealt with three of the seven individuals, namely Joel Tan Yun Sheng, Ang Da Yuan and Natalie Siow Yu Zhen, who had pled guilty and were given jail terms.

Joel Tan was convicted of one count of voluntarily causing hurt with common intention, while Ang and Siow were convicted of one count of voluntarily causing hurt with common intention and one count of consorting with a person carrying an offensive weapon in a public place.

Joel Tan was sentenced to one month’s jail, Ang was sentenced to eight months’ jail and Siow was sentenced to five months' jail in addition to the three-and-a-half months she had earlier spent in remand.

“In calibrating her sentence, Siow received an uplift of three months as she was not liable to be caned,” AGC said.

It pointed out that the sentences were in line with the guidelines issued by the courts.

“Allegations of preferential treatment for different races are baseless and have the potential to disrupt racial harmony in Singapore, causing irreversible divisions in our communities,” AGC added.