http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/6/15/asia/14543430&sec=asia
World Updates
Thursday June 15, 2006
Blogger hauled up over Christ cartoons
A 21-YEAR-OLD accounts assistant is being investigated for
allegedly flouting the Sedition Act by publishing pictures on his
blog that were thought to depict Jesus Christ in an offensive
manner.
The blogger, using the online moniker Char, had found the cartoons
on the Internet and began posting them in January.
He told The Straits Times last week that he was called in by the
police for questioning in March after they received a
complaint.
On Tuesday, the police confirmed they were investigating the matter
but declined to give details as investigations are still
ongoing.
News of the investigation was announced online by Char himself last
week, when he sent an e-mail to a mailing list of more than 300
young Singaporeans. He told them of his experience and how it came
about, and had removed the cartoons from his blog after he was
questioned.
When contacted, Char asked that he not be identified for he feared
he might lose his job, which he wanted to keep before entering a
local university in August.
Describing himself as a freethinker, he said he had posted a
cartoon that depicted Jesus as a zombie biting a boys head in
January. The following month, he received an online message asking
him to remove the image.
Char did not reply to the message but chose to irk the person
instead. He searched the Internet for more pictures depicting Jesus
and published three of them on his blog.
Looking back, he said he felt he had made an unwise move.
In its statement on Tuesday, the police also advised the public
that it is a serious offence for any person to distribute or
reproduce any seditious publication which may cause feelings of ill
will and hostility between different races or classes of the
population of Singapore. Offenders can be jailed up to three years
or fined a maximum of S$5,000 (RM11,514) or both.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has also said the government would
act against anyone making remarks threatening Singapores racial
and religious harmony, whether done online or offline. Race,
language and religion remain sensitive issues here, and a younger
generation must grow up learning the eternal truths about
Singapore, he said last year when three young Singaporeans were
charged under the Sedition Act. The Straits Times / Asia News
Network
