Singaporean activist Jolovan Wham was fined S$5,000 on April 29 for scandalising the judiciary.

Wham wrote in a Facebook post on the same day: "5k fine, 5k costs to the prosecutor and $2297.82 disbursements (this is for their photocopy costs, postage, court fees, filing fees) for scandalising the judiciary."

Scandalised the judiciary

According to The Straits Times, Wham was convicted back in October 2018 for a Facebook post he made on April 27, 2018.

The post said that Singaporean courts are not as independent as Malaysian courts in dealing with political cases.

The post included a link to an article about Malaysian news site Malaysiakini titled, "Malaysiakini mounts constitutional challenge against Anti-Fake News Act".

High Court judge Woo Bih Li noted that Wham refused to remove the post, and also refused to apologise while he was convicted in October 2018.

This sentence comes after Wham chose a jail term of 16 days over a fine of S$3,200 for organising a public assembly without a permit.

The sentence was handed down on Feb. 21.

Wham's further comment on the sentence

Wham further commented on the sentence with another Facebook post on April 29.

At about 3pm, Wham shared a link to a Yahoo Singapore article and commented that he felt his criticism was "reasonable".

He added that he believed the prosecution's "insistence" on an apology and take down order is to "shame him into submission" and reinforce a compliance culture.

SDP politician also fined

In addition, Singapore Democratic Party politician John Tan was also fined S$5,000 for criticising the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) for initiating contempt of court proceedings against Wham.

This was done in another Facebook post on May 6, 2018, where Tan said that AGC's actions "confirmed the truth" of what Wham had said.

Tan removed his post in March 2019 during his hearing on sentence, but Woo said that this was not a reflection of remorse.

According to CNA, Tan was ordered to pay pay S$6,966 in legal costs and disbursements to the AGC.

Tan's lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam argued for Tan to be given a jail term of three days instead of the fine.

But Woo asked why Thuraisingam felt that Tan was "more culpable" than Wham, as that would mean one defendant received a fine while the other received a jail term.

Under Singapore law, a person who has been convicted and sentenced to a fine of S$2,000 or more would be disqualified from standing as a Member of Parliament for five years.

Thuraisingam stated that both Wham and Tan will appeal.

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Top image from Jolovan Wham's Facebook page.