A 33-year-old man, Chua Wang Cheng, has been sentenced to six months in jail on Monday (Dec 23) after pleading guilty to harassment by stalking and sharing content aimed at disparaging the religion of Islam.
The court’s ruling stemmed from Chua’s creation of fake Facebook accounts impersonating an individual he disliked, leading to multiple police reports regarding inflammatory content.
CHARGES
- Harassment by stalking
- Sharing content intended to wound the religious feelings of Muslims (two charges)
- Wounding the religious feelings of Muslims (four additional charges)
DETAILS OF THE CASE
Chua, who is also known as Cai Wangchen, developed a dislike for the victim after they met in 2011 during Chua’s National Service. He perceived the victim as arrogant and sarcastic, which fueled his malicious intent, according to Channel News Asia.
In February 2019, Chua set up a Facebook account using the victim’s name and photo, adding 627 users as friends. He posted personal documents, including the victim’s academic transcript and a letter of commendation from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), while engaging with other users in comments.
In September 2019, concerns were raised by several users who suspected the account was fake, prompting Chua to deactivate it. However, on the same day, an anonymous complaint was lodged, alleging that the posts incited hatred among different races and religions.
Following this, the victim reported the harassment to the police, confirming that the account did not belong to him.
Despite the initial deactivation, Chua reactivated the fake account and continued to post inflammatory content. Facebook ultimately closed the account in November 2019 after finding it violated community standards.
Undeterred, Chua created a second fake account in the victim’s name, using it to share derogatory links, including two YouTube videos on November 25, 2019, that depicted someone portraying the Prophet Muhammad.
The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) described one of the videos as containing baseless claims intended to disparage Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, while the other was assessed to include derogatory statements against Islam and the broader Muslim community. Although Chua did not produce the videos, he shared them with comments calculated to wound the religious feelings of Muslim users on Facebook.
During police investigations, Chua admitted to his actions, stating he posted content as a form of retaliation against the victim. In messages found on his phone, he expressed enjoyment in making “anti-Muslim comments,” illustrating the premeditated nature of his conduct.
According to report, in his WeChat messages he said that it was “fun” and “felt really good” to post “anti-Muslim comments”.
According to ST, Court documents did not specify how Chua was ultimately apprehended, but he confessed to his crimes during police questioning.
“(Chua) also admitted that he deliberately posted content under the victim’s name as he did not like the victim” said DPP in court.
“Through an interpreter, Mr. Chua requested additional time to prepare his mitigation plea. He was appearing pro se, meaning he was not represented by legal counsel.”
The victim endured significant psychological, professional, and reputational harm due to Chua’s actions, having been called in for police questioning multiple times as a result of the inflammatory posts. In October 2020, three additional individuals filed police reports against the second fake account, further highlighting the widespread concern over Chua’s actions.
The prosecution sought a jail term of six to eight months for Chua, labeling his behavior as malicious and persistent. The court acknowledged that the fake Facebook accounts were created with the intent to besmirch the victim, noting the extreme offensiveness of the content shared.
Under Singaporean law, harassment by stalking can result in a jail term of up to one year, a fine of up to S$5,000, or both. Additionally, those found guilty of intentionally wounding racial or religious feelings face up to three years of imprisonment, fines, or both.
Image via google for illustration
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