Singapore, May 19 (PTI) An 85-year-old Singapore doctor was fined SGD 10,000 (USD 7,700) on Monday for posting remarks "highly insulting towards Islam" on social media.
A police report against Kho Kwang Po, 85, said he posted in 2016 and reposted in 2021 remarks on Facebook that were "highly insulting towards Islam".
Another report said he posted seditious content denigrating Islam on Facebook for several years, Channel News Asia reported.
Kho, the only person with access to his account, first made the Facebook post on April 21, 2016, and reposted the same content on April 21, 2021, even after being administered a conditional warning over the original post.
The octogenarian’s post was available for the public to see, as he had intended the public to view it, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sean Teh told the court.
The prosecution urged the court to fine Kho SGD 10,000, arguing that he made the posts with deliberation.
Teh said the offence would have ordinarily warranted an imprisonment term, but the prosecution had factored in Kho's advanced age, his plea of guilt to the charge of deliberately intending to wound the religious feelings of Muslims, and how the posts had not gained significant traction.
"The accused’s Facebook profile was publicly available, thus, the post in question was available for all to view. The accused had been making many Muslim-directed posts over a prolonged period," said Teh.
Kho's lawyers, Kenneth Au-Yong and Josiah Tan, said their client apologised for his misjudgment.
"He is not likely to repeat this offence, and as the prosecution said, he has shown remorse and made a plea of guilt," said Au-Yong.
District Judge Eddy Tham said he found the words "objectively insulting".
"As a doctor, you should have known better than to propagate such views on the internet," Judge Tham said.
The district judge added that he had read Kho's plea in mitigation, expressing his remorse, where the doctor had admitted to being overly fixated on what he read on the internet, and accepting propaganda without critical examination.
Judge Tham said he hoped that Kho realised the folly of his actions.
He imposed the maximum fine allowed under the Magistrates' Courts.
For uttering words with the deliberate intent to wound racial feelings, an offender could be jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.
Kho is a registered medical practitioner whose practising certificate expired on December 31, 2020, the Singapore Medical Council said.