SINGAPORE: A 27-year-old woman was on Monday (May 6) charged over her involvement in a Wake Up Singapore article that spread a false story of miscarriage at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH).
Ma Su Nandar Htwe, 27, appeared in a district court and received one charge of defamation under the Penal Code.
The Myanmar national, who is a Singapore permanent resident, is accused of "making an imputation" about KKH on Mar 21, 2022 by sending Instagram messages to Wake Up Singapore that detailed a "fabricated account" of how she suffered a miscarriage.
She did this with the intention that Wake Up Singapore would publish the story, knowing that this would harm KKH's reputation, according to charge sheets.
The article claimed that KKH's mismanagement resulted in a woman suffering a miscarriage after she waited four hours to receive treatment for COVID-19 and abdominal pains on Feb 28, 2022.
Titled "The baby is probably dead - Woman shares a harrowing account of her miscarriage at KKH A&E", it was published on Wake Up Singapore's website, Facebook page and Instagram page, and widely shared on social media.
On Mar 25, 2022, KKH made a police report over the article. The hospital had found no records of the purported patient. Police investigations found that the allegations were untrue.
Ma Su Nandar Htwe's passport has been impounded.
She is the second person to be charged in this case. Ariffin Iskandar Sha Ali Akbar, 26, the administrator of Wake Up Singapore, was also charged with defamation last month.
Their cases will be heard again on May 24.
Wake Up Singapore apologised on Mar 25, 2022 for publishing the article, after the woman admitted her claims were false.
The website received a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). It published the POFMA correction notices and also took down the article.
The penalty for defamation is imprisonment for up to two years, a fine, or both.
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Ma Su Nandar Htwe, 27, appeared in a district court and received one charge of defamation under the Penal Code.
The Myanmar national, who is a Singapore permanent resident, is accused of "making an imputation" about KKH on Mar 21, 2022 by sending Instagram messages to Wake Up Singapore that detailed a "fabricated account" of how she suffered a miscarriage.
She did this with the intention that Wake Up Singapore would publish the story, knowing that this would harm KKH's reputation, according to charge sheets.
The article claimed that KKH's mismanagement resulted in a woman suffering a miscarriage after she waited four hours to receive treatment for COVID-19 and abdominal pains on Feb 28, 2022.
Titled "The baby is probably dead - Woman shares a harrowing account of her miscarriage at KKH A&E", it was published on Wake Up Singapore's website, Facebook page and Instagram page, and widely shared on social media.
On Mar 25, 2022, KKH made a police report over the article. The hospital had found no records of the purported patient. Police investigations found that the allegations were untrue.
Ma Su Nandar Htwe's passport has been impounded.
She is the second person to be charged in this case. Ariffin Iskandar Sha Ali Akbar, 26, the administrator of Wake Up Singapore, was also charged with defamation last month.
Their cases will be heard again on May 24.
Wake Up Singapore apologised on Mar 25, 2022 for publishing the article, after the woman admitted her claims were false.
The website received a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). It published the POFMA correction notices and also took down the article.
The penalty for defamation is imprisonment for up to two years, a fine, or both.
Continue reading...