A 33-year-old man has been convicted of criminal intimidation on
Tuesday (Oct 6), after he sent four identical threatening messages
to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong via Facebook, local media
reported.
Tan Yeong Hong also pleaded guilty to two counts of hurting two
policemen.
It was reported that Tan became frustrated after attending a Meet
the People's Session (MPS) in PM Lee's Ang Mo Kio ward on Jun 24
only to find that the PM would not be there.
The report added that Tan wanted to pass PM Lee an article he had
typed but had to pass the letter to a grassroots leader
instead.
Tan allegedly said he had brought a hammer to the MPS, but claimed
he did not have any intention of using it.
Tan wrote in his four threatening messages: "Eh, you challenged me
to visit your MPS but you are not here. I will find and stage an
attack on you when I have information on your public appearances
(sic) . You know who I am".
He also left his NRIC number and handphone number in the
messages.
According to the report, Tan claimed he was prompted to do so by
"someone with a hidden audio and surveillance device planted in my
house".
He added that the same people had asked him to look for PM Lee when
he made a public appearance. Despite his claims, Tan said he had
not seen the surveillance device before.
On Jun 25, a senior manager of the Online Communications Unit of
the Prime Minister's Office, which manages Mr Lee's social media
accounts, lodged a police report about the four messages.
When police officers approached him at Hougang Avenue 1 at about
7.55pm the same day, Tan refused to provide his identity and turned
hostile. He punched a policeman and elbowed another in the face but
was subsequently arrested.
AsiaOne reported that upon searching his
home, police found assorted dangerous weapons including a hammer,
two choppers and several knives. A list of PM's upcoming public
appearances was also found.
According to reports, Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Chong said
that psychiatric reports show that Tan suffers from paranoid
schizophrenia, which had been left untreated at the time of his
offences.
The psychiatric report stated that the illness played "a large
contributory role in (his) offending behaviour". However, it
concluded that Tan was not found to be of unsound mind and is still
fit to plead.
stomp