How far would you go to show your displeasure at a court ruling?
A) Put up a cryptic message on social media hinting at the case.
B) Set up a petition and hope that many, many people sign it.
or C) Outright threaten the judge who made that judgement.
Unfortunately for a 30-year-old man, Muhammad Hanif Mohamed Huzairi, he decided to go with option C.
And now, he’s in trouble for it.
Man Charged Over Threatening IG Stories
This all reportedly started with civil suits brought against Section 377(A) of the Penal Code by three men:
- 43-year-old Johnson Ong Ming
- 42-year-old Bryan Choong
- 61-year-old Roy Tan Seng Kee
The law which criminalises consensual sex between men and anyone prosecuted can be jailed for up to two years.
The trio had launched the suits after an Indian court decided to lift the ban on consensual sex between men back in Sep 2018.
Unfortunately, their civil suits were dismissed by Justice See Kee Oon.
Hanif was apparently angered by Justice See’s decision and decided to issue death threats over the most public platform you can ever find in current times: Instagram Stories.
He allegedly wrote:
- “To the deadass boomer of a judge who dismissed the challenges against 377A, you better f***ing watch out!!”
- “Homophobic judges need to be put down immediately”
- “Gonna begin my work work (sic) on some death curses to be inflicted upon the oppressive judicial (expletive)”
- “Can we please torture the corrupted judges until they f***ing crumble & repeal S377A on the spot!? Pretty please; I’d love to personally torture them to their breaking point”
It wasn’t just Instagram Stories either as he also allegedly wrote a comment on a Pink Dot post, stating that “it’s time to hunt down oppressive judges” and “make them pay the ultimate price”.
He was charged with:
- 2 counts of using threatening words under the Protection from Harassment Act
- 3 counts of communicating an electronic record containing an incitement to violence
Could be Jailed for Up to 5 Years
For the charge of using threatening words, he could be jailed for up to a year, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
For communicating an electronic record containing an incitement to violence, Hanif could be jailed up to 5 years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
He is currently out on bail and is reportedly planning to plead guilty to the charges on 26 Aug 2020.
