SINGAPORE, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Singapore on Friday jailed two men
for making racist remarks on the Internet against minority Malays,
invoking sedition laws inherited from British colonial rule for the
first time since its independence 40 years ago.
Benjamin Koh, 27, was sentenced to a month's imprisonment while
Nicholas Lim, 25, was fined and jailed for a day, both for posting
comments on their personal websites, or blogs, attacking the
city-state's mostly-Muslim ethnic Malay community.
The two faced up to three years jail or fines of up to S$5,000
($2,955) for violating laws under Singapore's Sedition Act by
promoting ill-will and hostility between the city-state's ethnic
communities with their June Internet posts.
In several expletive-laden online posts, Koh and Lim
attacked Singapore's Malay Muslims, who account for 14
percent
of the island republic's population. District Judge
Richard Magnus said their imprisonment represented a
"sentence
of general deterrence" as their offensive comments threatened
the "very fabric of Singapore society".
Lim, who worked in an animal shelter, posted his comments on an
Internet forum for dog lovers while participating in a discussion
on whether taxi cabs should refuse to carry uncaged pets out of
consideration for Muslims, as their religion considers dogs
unclean.
Koh, who was given the maximum fine, advocated desecrating Islam's
holy site of Mecca in his online journal.
"The right to propogate an opinion on the Internet is not, and
cannot, be an unfettered right," the judge said in his
sentencing.
Singapore has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the
world, but also some of the toughest media laws.
Police have wide powers to intercept online messages, and Internet
service providers are required to block websites containing
material that may be a threat to public security, national defence,
racial and religious harmony and public morality.
The government has defended these controls as necessary to maintain
ethnic harmony among its 4.2 million people, of which about
three-quarters are ethnic Chinese. Ethnic Indians make up another
eight percent.
($1=1.692 Singapore Dollar)
