Filipino national Ello Ed Mundsel Bello, better known by his Facebook moniker “Edz Ello”, has been convicted under the Sedition Act.
He pleaded guilty to 1 charge of sedition, for “promoting feelings of ill-will and hostility” between different races in Singapore.
Edz also pleaded guilty to 2 charges of lying to the police.
He will be sentenced on 16 September.
The prosecution has recommended a 20-week jail term.
On 2 Jan this year, Edz was working as a a nurse at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, when he wrote on Facebook:
“Singaporeans are loosers (sic) in their own country, we take their jobs, their future, their women and soon we will evict all SG loosers (sic)out of their own country hahaha”.
He rounded up the post by saying “Remember Pinoy better and stronger than Stinkaporeans”.
Several police reports were made against Edz after his comments went viral.
Edz lied to the police three times, claiming his Facebook account was hacked.
Following the incident, Edz was sacked by Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Under the Sedition Act, Edz can be fined up to S$5,000 or jailed for up to three years, or be punished with both.
Just last month, Singaporean teenager Amos Yee was also punished for the same offence with a suspended 4-week jail sentence.
He was found by the court to have produced an obscene video criticising Lee Kuan Yew and Christians.
But should Singaporeans rejoice at news that Edz has been convicted?
The scary part about the law is that while it can be used on Edz, a foreigner, it can and has been used on Singaporeans too, such as Amos Yee.
Considering the types of comments that surface on Facebook, which appear to similarly promote ill-will and feelings of hostility amongst different races, many loose cannons might go punished if police reports are made against them.
So while some have taken great pleasure in Edz’s conviction, one must keep in mind that while he might be gone, the law is here to stay.
And it can be used against you too.
GC
August 27, 2015 at 3:07 pm
As long as can call LGBT faggot and chao ah gua, good enough. But for race, language or religion, cannot… buei sai buei sai. especially if people’s religion is insult they will become very violent, so singapore need to protect religion from being offended.