Distraught man who called for ‘torture’ and ‘death curses’ against judges who upheld anti-gay laws faces prison
Singapore LGBT+ allies form the characters Repeal 377A in a call to repeal Section 377A. (Ore Huiying/Getty)
After the Singapore High Court upheld a law criminalising homosexuality, a man has been charged with inciting violence for an Instagram message threatening to make the judiciary “pay the ultimate price”.
Muhammad Hanif Mohamed Huzairi, 30, is accused of inciting violence against the High Court judges using his Instagram stories, with one message calling for them to be tortured “until they f**king crumble and repeal [the law] on the spot”.
Court documents seen by Singapore’s Today Online state that Huzairi published the messages on March 30, the day that High Court justice See Kee Oon dismissed three separate challenges to the colonial-era Section 377A, which defines sex between consenting men as “acts of gross indecency” punishable by up to two years in prison.
This also extends to anyone who abets, procures or attempts to procure such acts.
Oon’s verdict was described as “astounding” and “utterly shocking” by the plaintiffs, who had argued that Section 377A infringes the right to equality, life, personal liberty and expression in Singapore.
“To the dead*ss boomer of a judge who dismissed the challenges against 377A you better f**king watch out!!” Huzairi allegedly wrote after the ruling was announced.
“Can we please torture the corrupted judges until they f**king crumble & repeal S377A on the spot!? Pretty please; I’d love to personally torture them to their breaking point.”
He is accused of writing that the “homophobic judges need to be put down immediately”, and that he was about to “begin my work on some death curses to be inflicted upon the oppressive judicial [expletive]”.
In anther comment on Pink Dot SG’s Instagram post he allegedly wrote: “Time to hunt down the oppressive judges, who basically maintained the legislation of discrimination against us, and make them pay the ultimate price.”
Huzairi faces two charges of using threatening words under the Protection from Harassment Act, and three charges of communicating an electronic record containing an incitement to violence. He was released on bail and intends to plead guilty on August 26.
If convicted of using threatening words towards a public servant, he could be jailed up to a year, fined up to S$5,000 or both. He could face a further fine and an additional five years in prison if convicted of an incitement to violence.
