POFMA order issued to activist group for false statements on legal processes for death row prisoners

The Minister for Home Affairs has instructed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulations Act (POFMA) Office to issue a correction direction in response to posts about the treatment of anti-death penalty activists and the legal processes for prisoners awaiting capital punishment, in relation to Mohammad Azwan bin Bohari.

The posts were made by the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) on various social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn.

ADPAN, which describes itself as "a regional network of organisations and individuals committed to working towards abolition of the death penalty in the Asia Pacific", has since complied with the POFMA order on Oct. 10.

What false statements attracted the correction direction?

In a statement on Oct. 9, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the posts falsely stated that Singapore carries out executions without regard for due legal process.

"An execution will only be scheduled when a prisoner has exhausted all rights of appeal and the clemency process in relation to his or her conviction and sentence," said MHA, adding that this was the case for Azwan.

MHA also contested ADPAN's statements saying that the government "targets, silences and harasses Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) and other individuals for speaking up against the death penalty."

Activist group TJC was previously issued a correction direction about an article published on its website on Oct. 2, after being issued correction directions on two other occasions previously.

"Action is taken against organisations and individuals who spread false information about the death penalty, where it is in the public interest to do so," said MHA.

The ministry added that it assessed it was in the public interest to issue the correction directions as "the false statements cast serious aspersions on the Government and the criminal justice system, and could undermine public confidence in public institutions."

ADPAN posted correction notice

ADPAN posted a correction notice on its Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram stating, "An earlier post (dated Oct. 3, 2024) contains false statements of fact."

The activist group also linked MHA's statement on the matter.

On Facebook, ADPAN said it received a notice of correction from the POFMA Office at 11pm on Oct. 9 and was directed to post the notice the next day.

However, ADPAN said that it "stands by its statements, expressions, and opinions", adding that it "reserves the right to make additional statements on this matter."

Mohammad Azwan bin Bohari

In its statement, MHA also set out some of the facts in Azwan's case.

Azwan was sentenced to five years in jail and five strokes of the cane for trafficking methamphetamine and diamorphine in 2009.

He was also convicted for consumption of methamphetamine and morphine, and possession of cannabis, cannabinol derivatives, and diamorphine.

He was released in October 2014.

Azwan was arrested for drug trafficking again on Oct. 17, 2015, and was put on trial.

"Due legal process"

"Azwan was accorded due legal process," said MHA, outlining the steps taken in the trial, including the prosecution's calling of witnesses and presentation of statements Azwan made to Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers.

In these statements, MHA said Azwan admitted that the drugs found in his possession were meant for sale.

MHA said he then denied this during the trial, and said that not all the drugs were for sale:

"His defence was that he was a drug addict, and would normally set aside 50 per cent of the drugs he obtained for his personal consumption; the other 50 per cent would be sold to finance his drug habit."

In its statement, MHA also explained the legal presumption under Section 17 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, where someone proven to have in their possession more than certain threshold amounts of controlled drugs is presumed to have those drugs in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.

"Even where the Prosecution relies on this presumption, it still bears the legal burden of proving the material elements of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt," said MHA, adding:

"The use of such presumptions is only an evidential tool to prove certain elements of an offence after a predicate fact has been proven by the Prosecution. Further, this presumption can be rebutted if the accused person is able to show, on a balance of probabilities, that he or she was not trafficking in drugs."

Azwan was not able to rebut the presumption at trial, said MHA, and the court found that his defence lacked details and was raised "too belatedly to have any persuasive value".

Azwan was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty on Feb. 11, 2019, for possessing not less than 26.5g of diamorphine for the purpose of trafficking.

This is almost two times the amount that would attract the death penalty as stipulated in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973 (MDA).

The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal on Oct. 24, 2019.

Since then, Azwan has been a joint applicant with other prisoners awaiting capital punishment in three legal proceedings, which have been dismissed as they were found to be unmeritorious.

Azwan's appeals for clemency were denied by the President on Mar. 23, 2020, and Jun. 15, 2022.

His sentence was carried out Oct. 4, 2024.

Top image via MHA and ADPAN websites