Han Hui Hui challenges authorities to release CCTV footage where she alleged she was mistreated during searches

Han hits back at the authorities.

Jonathan Lim | March 15, 2017, 08:04 PM

It's been an eventful week for blogger Han Hui Hui.

First, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) asked her to remove a YouTube video and five Facebook posts which alleged that her criminal conviction over a 2014 protest rally that disrupted a charity event at Hong Lim Park was done so to politically persecute her.

The AGC has given her a week, starting from March 13, to take the posts and video down, as well as to publish an apology, or she will be charged with contempt.

 

Blog post alleging mistreatment

A day after receiving those instructions from AGC, Han published a lengthy blog post - Alone In Cell - giving her account of her court proceedings as well as her incarceration.

She alleged that she was strip-searched, a privacy screen was not used and the search was "done in front of about ten female officers with male officers passing by at the gate."

She also alleged that inmates were not given toilet paper and that her lunch was cold and had chilli poured all over it.

Han also claimed that she was escorted by "10 police officers at the high court basement and an additional 50 police officers at the state court basement".

Han's blog post concluded by asking Singaporeans to transfer money to her POSB account to help pay for her S$3,100 fine for causing a public nuisance.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) responded to Han's allegations saying they were "baseless and false."

MHA said the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) had reviewed CCTV footage and interviewed relevant officers in relation to Han's lock-up. MHA said Han was not strip-searched and her allegation that male officers walked past while she was searched was not true as Han was in the women's wing of the prison, which was not accessible to male officers. MHA also said a privacy screen was deployed when searches were in progress.

MHA added that "upon request, toilet paper is made available to detainees." MHA added that "Han could have raised the issues at any time while she was in custody and the SPS would have looked into it. However, she chose not to do so.

Instead, she chose to publish the fabricated, false and misleading accounts on social media."

MHA's full statement was shared by Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam on Facebook:

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Challenging the authorities

Following MHA's statement, Han made multiple Facebook posts challenging the authorities to release CCTV footage of her during the events leading up to and during her lock-up.

She claims there were four searches conducted on her and four corresponding CCTV footage of that. She is also claiming that there are five CCTV videos of her during her lock-up including one of her supposed solitary confinement.

She claims that the authorities "will never bring out all 4 CCTVs" as no privacy screen was used "in all four searches" and "searches are humiliating and I nearly fell in one of the searches".

The Facebook posts also included graphics proclaiming "Character assassination by Singapore government controlled mainstream media."

Here's one of her posts:

 

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