'Hands off my Facebook': Singaporean in rare defiance of government order to 'correct' her opinion

A Singaporean activist has refused to comply with a government order to publish a "correction" to her social media post criticising the authorities' handling of the execution of a death row inmate early this month".

The directive was issued to anti-death penalty activist Kokila Annamalai under the city-state's so-called Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma), a draconian law that gives the government sweeping powers to declare a particular online post false before ordering the author to make corrections.

"There are no false facts in the post," said a defiant Kokila in an article addressed to Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, who has over the years emerged as one of the staunchest defenders of Singapore's controversial drug laws that have seen a series of executions carried out under controversial procedures.

"The minister is deeply mistaken if he thinks that I will be a mouthpiece for his opinions about prisoners on death row and his attempts to defend the barbaric death penalty regime in Singapore," she added.

Kokila's refusal led to the government issuing a legal demand to Meta and X, instructing the platforms to publish a "correction notice" while launching an investigation against her.

"None of this will silence me, nor will it stop the anti-death penalty movement in Singapore, which has been growing from strength to strength. We grew up with bullies in power, we know how to fight them," said Kokila, who was charged in June this year along with two others for mobilising the public to deliver letters to the prime minister urging him to end ties with Israel to protest the genocide in Gaza.

The directive to Kokila was issued on Oct 5, a day after the execution of Azwan bin Bohari, along with several other directives to anti-death penalty group Transformative Justice Collective, instructing it to publish "corrections" to articles and posts on its website and social media pages.

On Oct 2, Kokila criticised authorities for the "emotional rollercoaster" that Azwan and his family had been subjected to when his execution date was "fixed, stayed, then fixed again" within a six-month period.

She had also questioned how the court had come to the conclusion that the drugs found on Azwan were intended for trafficking and not for personal consumption.

"In most other states, the prosecution has to prove trafficking, not presume it on the basis of the quantity seized. It is indeed possible that Azwan had half the drugs for his own consumption, but the problem is this: Singapore’s laws require him to somehow prove that this was the case.

"The cost of failing to do so? His life," she wrote on Facebook.

She recalled how Azwan testified in court that he was tricked into making a false confession by the police after being promised he could see his girlfriend.

Kokila said it was common in Singapore for accused persons to be interrogated without a lawyer.

"This is outrageous enough in a non-capital case, but when the stakes are as high as life or death, it is utterly unacceptable for an accused person to be interrogated without a lawyer to look out for their rights and ensure that they are treated fairly."

For her comments, Kokila was ordered to publish a "correction" to reflect the home ministry's denial that the government schedules and stays executions arbitrarily, as well as to retract her criticism of the burden of proving a drug trafficking charge.

"The false statements could erode public trust in the Singapore government and our criminal justice system," the ministry said in in issuing the order.

"We advise members of the public not to speculate and/or spread unverified rumours," the ministry said in the notice.

'He won't debate'

Kokila challenged Shanmugam to an open debate if he disagreed with her views on the death penalty.

"But he won’t do it. Instead, he aggressively asserts his views on the death penalty in mainstream media, in alternative media, in Parliament, on his social media platforms, in schools, at youth forums, at civil service events, in public addresses — while various authorities make sure death penalty abolitionists don’t have access to any of these platforms."

Kokila said the last place she would allow the minister was on her Facebook page.

"Well, I’m sorry, the minister can’t have his say on my Facebook page too. It is a sacred space to me, the space I learnt to find my voice," she said, describing Pofma as a tool of the government to inflict psychological violence on the public.

Kokila said that many before her had been forced to comply with Pofma's "correction" order as they could not afford to mount a legal challenge or to be slapped with the hefty fine of S$20,000 and/or 12 months imprisonment.

"Yes, I am afraid of fines I cannot afford, and prison time. But I am more afraid of what will happen if we don’t stand up for the truth, for our freedom, and for justice, when we are given the chance. I am afraid, over all else, that if I don’t do this, I will lose my moral compass and betray my integrity," she wrote.