In October 2017, two 28-year-old female Singaporeans were investigated by the Police for posting remarks on Facebook that were prejudicial to the maintenance of racial and religious harmony in Singapore.
The two women had prayed in the fire escape stairwell of a mall sometime in October 2017. They were advised by the security personnel, who waited until after they had completed their prayers, that the fire escape stairwell needs to be kept unobstructed for fire safety reasons, and they can do their prayers in the prayer room in the vicinity.
However, both of them returned to the same fire escape stairwell to pray the next day despite having been told that this was not permitted. When a security personnel again advised them to use the designated prayer room, one of them demanded to meet the security supervisor, and subsequently accused the supervisor of being racist by disallowing them to pray there.
After the encounter, the two women posted remarks on Facebook alleging that members of one race looked down on members of another race.
The Police have completed their investigations. After careful consideration of the circumstances of the case and in consultation with the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the two women were administered with a 12-month conditional warning on 6 July 2018 for the offences of making inflammatory comments online and criminal trespass. These offences will be resurfaced for reconsideration for prosecution if they re-offend within this period.
The allegations the two women made were serious, but baseless. Such allegations can over time affect our racial and religious harmony. Obstructing a fire escape stairwell is also serious. Nevertheless, the Police decided to exercise discretion in their favour and administer a warning instead of prosecuting them.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
06 July 2018 @ 12:50 PM