Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam yesterday refuted claims the police officers mistreated an elderly woman earlier this month and clapped back at a political news site for doubling down on the allegations.
Singapore man very sorry for accusing police of harassing maskless woman
Shanmugam stepped in to criticize The Online Citizen, aka TOC, which has a history of bumping heads with Singapore’s politicians, for alleging that officers shouted at an unmasked 85-year-old woman believed to suffer from dementia rather than render the assistance as they said.
“TOC knew of an 85 year old elderly lady’s dementia. It took advantage of her vulnerability and twisted facts to attack the Police,” he wrote.
“I said to TOC: you attack the politicians – we can deal with it. But don’t bring your malice and toxicity to attack the Police – they are doing their best for Singaporeans. And don’t take advantage, abuse old women, who suffer from dementia, to play your political games.”
The episode erupted earlier this month after videos of the incident surfaced online that were filmed by a witness who said the police were harassing the woman for not wearing a mask. In response, the force said the encounter was misconstrued as the officers were trying to help her get home.
The Online Citizen a week later posted a video interview with the woman who said the police did not buy her food as they had said and “chased her back” home. She seemed to be aware of where she lived. The site also published audio from the original recording in which the officers are heard addressing her lack of a mask.
“Interestingly, the video tells a different story now that we have managed to get hold of the version with live audio. And the elderly woman whom we managed to catch up at the same location, tell a different story,” the site said of the recording.
The police responded by releasing bodycam footage showing an officer purchase and bring food to the woman and non-threateningly inform the woman’s caretaker that she was not wearing a mask.
Shanmugam also addressed the situation at a Tuesday media briefing where he said the footage was released on his order to exonerate the officers involved.
“You know, it is regrettable that these very false statements are being made. The TOC video clip is not clear, and it is partial, because it doesn’t capture both the points where they said Police lied. So, I have asked Police to release the clips from their body-worn camera (BWC). You can see it, it is clear. Once you see it, there can be no argument,” he said.
He added that the woman’s daughter confirmed that she has dementia and was “upset” that her mother has been “taken advantage” by TOC to “spin a story.”
“So, TOC, you go and interview her, this old lady. Try and get her to say things. I would say this is despicable, and how low people will stoop. Unethical, cynical. This whole exercise by TOC is quite malicious, to attack the Police,” he said.
A correction order was issued under the so-called fake news law, aka POFMA, to the original source, Instagram user @Nichology, as well as Singapore Uncensored and The Online Citizen Asia, pages where the video appeared. User @Nichology apologized and put up a correction post.
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