Man who made racially insensitive comments during GE2020 period sentenced to 2 weeks' jail
SINGAPORE – A man who tried to stir ill will between racial groups during the general election period last year was sentenced to two weeks’ jail and a fine of $7,000.
Sirajudeen Abdul Majeed, 52, pleaded guilty on Monday (Feb 8) to one charge each of deliberately intending to wound racial feelings and promoting enmity between groups on grounds of race.
Another two similar charges for promoting enmity were taken into consideration during sentencing.
On June 12 and 13, 2020, the Singaporean of Indian ethnicity sent messages to three acquaintances claiming “the PAP wants to make the Malay community a sub-minority”, and that other races were introduced to the country to “just dilute the original race of Malay”.
He also told them to “please share” the messages.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Yiwen said Sirajudeen intended to stoke fears that the People’s Action Party was seeking to marginalise the Malays in the country by allowing more immigrants into the country.
“These messages would promote ill will between different racial groups, a fact that the accused must have objectively known when he sent the said messages,” he added.
One of the acquaintances later made a police report against Sirajudeen.
On Aug 5 last year, Sirajudeen called the police on 999 twice and made racially insensitive comments targeting Malays.
He also made remarks about police officers being incompetent because of their Malay ethnicity.
Sirajudeen was later questioned by the police.
When asked about the remarks he had made in relation to the Malay community, Sirajudeen claimed that police officers he encountered of “this denomination” had tended to exhibit bad attitude.
He further opined that Malays are unable to enter the Singapore Air Force, Navy and commando unit because they are unprofessional.
On Monday, District Judge Salina Ishak said Sirajudeen noted that the racially insensitive remarks were made during the election period, and that they could have led to significant uproar.
The judge added that it was entirely fortuitous his remarks were not disseminated further and that the matter was reported to the police.
Sirajudeen is currently out on $5,000 bail and is expected to surrender himself on Feb 22 to begin serving his sentence.
For attempting to promote enmity between racial groups, he could have been jailed for up to three years and fined.
Join ST’s Telegram channel here and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Source: Read Full Article
