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Editor of shuttered Singapore news site jailed

Terry Xu will spend three weeks in jail for defamation over a letter the portal published alleging corruption among government ministers.

AFP
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Concerns have been raised over worsening press freedoms in tightly controlled Singapore, with authorities accused of using heavy-handed tactics to silence dissent. Photo: Reuters
Concerns have been raised over worsening press freedoms in tightly controlled Singapore, with authorities accused of using heavy-handed tactics to silence dissent. Photo: Reuters

The editor of a shuttered Singaporean news website was on Thursday jailed three weeks for defamation over a letter the portal published alleging corruption among government ministers.

It is the latest case to fuel concerns about worsening press freedoms in tightly controlled Singapore, with authorities accused of using heavy-handed tactics to silence dissent.

The Online Citizen (TOC), which was often critical of authorities, had its licence to operate cancelled in October over a failure to declare funding sources.

Terry Xu, TOC’s former chief editor, was convicted the following month of defaming cabinet members over the publication of a letter stating there was “corruption at the highest echelons”.

Xu said on Facebook he was sentenced to three weeks’ jail on Thursday.

“I am opting to serve my sentence with immediate effect and not asking for a stay of sentence even though I am appealing against the conviction,” he wrote.

“I am not afraid of the jail sentence imposed upon me and strongly deny the charge placed before me.”

He had argued that the letter was not referring to individual members of the cabinet.

Court officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The letter’s author, Daniel De Costa, was also sentenced to three months and three weeks in jail on Thursday, according to local broadcaster CNA.

He was convicted last year of defamation and breaking computer crime laws for sending the opinion piece from another person’s email account without their consent.

Separately, Xu and another TOC writer were ordered to pay substantial damages last year after losing a defamation suit against Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Singapore’s media sector is dominated by pro-government outlets.

The city-state ranks 160th out of 180 countries and territories in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, where number one indicates the country with the greatest media freedoms.