POFMA order issued to activist group for false statement on 3 death row prisoners

The Transformative Justice Collection (TJC) has been issued a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulations Act (POFMA), shared the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a statement published on Nov. 26.

This is the organisation's fourth time being issued a POFMA direction.

Concurrently, a targeted correction direction was also issued to TikTok Pte Ltd.

These correction directions were issued on the instructions of the Minister for Digital Development and Information and the Second Minister for Home Affairs, in response to false statements made on TJC's social media posts on Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok on Nov. 20, 2024, said MHA.

TJC's post on Instagram included activists Kokila Annamalai and Rocky Howe as collaborators.

What the statements were about

TJC referred to cases involving three prisoners — Rosman bin Abdullah, Roslan bin Bakar, and Pausi bin Jefridin — who had been arrested for drug trafficking, and sentenced to death.

In its posts on Facebook, TikTok, and X on Nov. 20, TJC claimed that the three prisoners were executed without regard for their intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, MHA said.

"This is not true," said MHA, adding that "The Court had considered the evidence [the prisoners] produced and rejected their assertions."

The prisoners had made post-appeal applications on the basis that they suffered from an abnormality of mind that substantially impaired their mental responsibilities for their acts, said MHA.

Each of these applications were dismissed.

Prisoners on death row for 14 years

The three prisoners TJC posted about had each been on death row for 14 years, TJC said in its posts.

Responding to this, MHA said the duration was "significantly longer" due to the legal applications taken out by the three prisoners.

MHA highlighted that each of the three had been applicants or co-applicants in multiple legal proceedings.

Referring to the proceedings involving Pausi and Roslan, MHA said many of these were found to be unmeritorious, and "a deliberate attempt to stymie the carrying out of their punishments".

MHA also responded to other aspects of TJC's post regarding the scheduling of executions, as well as the prisoners' involvement in a case regarding the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC)'s handling of prisoners' letters.

TJC's previous correction directions

TJC's previous POFMA correction directions were issued on Aug. 8 and Aug. 11 for having made other false statements concerning prisoners on death row.

A third POFMA correction direction was issued on Oct. 11 in response to posts about the treatment of anti-death penalty activists and the legal processes for prisoners awaiting capital punishment about a case concerning Mohammad Azwan bin Bohari.

Issued a "POFMA Correction Direction" and "Targeted Correction Direction"

Similar to its previous correction directions, the latest instruction requires TJC to insert a correction notice against the original posts.

A link to the government's clarification must also be added.

TikTok will also be required to communicate a targeted correction notice to all end-users in Singapore who have accessed TJC's TikTok post.

In its statement, MHA also advised members of the public to refrain from speculation and from spreading unverified rumours.

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Top image from Pexels and MHA