The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) is looking into a doctored newspaper report on Facebook that claims a lawyer, who is an MP from the People's Action Party (PAP), saved the people accused in the City Harvest case from harsher sentences.
Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said yesterday that the AGC considers this a case of contempt by scandalising the courts.
The AGC said separately that it had written to Mr Neo Aik Chau about the post he published last Friday on a public Facebook group, whose Chinese name translates to "Policy discussion forum".
It added: "Contempt of court in its various forms harms the proper administration of justice in Singapore. AGC will take firm action against contempt of court, including institution of committal proceedings in appropriate instances."
Mr Shanmugam had brought up the matter when replying to Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio GRC). The MP had asked for the Government's response to people's comments on the case, which involved the misuse of millions of dollars of City Harvest Church funds for the pop music career of Sun Ho, or Ms Ho Yeow Sun, wife of senior pastor Kong Hee.
Some claimed the court had let the rich off lightly while others said the lawyer, Mr Edwin Tong, a PAP MP, got them lighter sentences.
Mr Shanmugam said he has asked the police to take a serious view of those who scandalise the court.
He stressed that people who do not agree with a court decision should not make personal attacks on the judges or challenge their integrity. He warned that those who do face the possibility of prosecution.
The newspaper report posted by Mr Neo was taken from Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao. The original headline of the Page 1 article said an outdated law saved the church's founder Kong Hee and five others from harsher penalties, but the false headline said a PAP lawyer saved them from heavier sentences.
The Wanbao report was on the Court of Appeal's decision to uphold a High Court ruling that Section 409 of the Penal Code cannot be applied to the six accused. The section provides for heavier punishments for certain groups of people who commit criminal breach of trust.
Mr Shanmugam said the Facebook post was made to look as if a mass circulation paper had written it, "probably to give more credence to the headline".
When contacted, an administrator of the Chinese-language Facebook group said it had nothing to do with the doctored post and declined to comment. The group, which has more than 4,500 members, carries posts on current affairs, with screengrabs and links to articles from media outlets, including Channel NewsAsia and Lianhe Zaobao.
Comments accompanying the doctored report, which has been posted more than once, include one with a photograph of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with Chinese words slapped on it, which read: "The judges have to give face to our party's lawyer."
Mr Shanmugam said: "AGC takes the view that the suggestion from the fake title is that, the PAP MP was responsible for an unfair, unjust outcome and the courts had let off the defendants lightly because of him."
He also said "the matter is with AGC, and it will be dealt with in accordance with the law". In deciding whether to prosecute, he said, factors considered include who came up with the statement, how seriously people will take it, and how widely it is distributed.
The doctored post has been removed from the Facebook group.
