One of Singapore’s biggest media this morning rejected legal claims by a group of anti-vaxxers that it published false information about the coronavirus.
Singapore Press Holdings said it would defend itself against a meritless lawsuit filed late last month by a group called Healing the Divide over an opinion piece by its senior health correspondent urging differential treatment of the unvaccinated.
“We have received the legal notice. We believe that there is no basis for the application. We stand by our report and will defend this rigorously,” SPH told Coconuts today.
The lawsuit was announced by the group yesterday, which said it filed it under Section 15 of the Protection from Harassment Act.
“As the main source of information in this country, we feel that they have both a legal and moral obligation to present the facts regarding COVID-19 and the pandemic and we would like to hold them to account,” the statement read, adding that they were hoping the court would issue a correction order to SPH.
It targets two statements based on widely supported understanding of the virus and seems more likely to win attention than impress a court of law.
The group, with over 800 followers, said it was not suing the company for harassment but for “making false statements of fact” in the article Only fair to protect vulnerable in S’pore against Covid-19 spread by unvaccinated people written by Senior Health Correspondent Salma Khalik in August.
In it, Khalik said those who are unvaccinated were not being fair and putting others at risk of contracting the virus, and that the government should not subsidize their treatment or insure them.
They specifically pointed out two statements in the article: “Only fair to protect vulnerable in S‘pore against Covid-19 spread by unvaccinated people.” and “People who are not vaccinated face a much higher risk of getting infected and spreading the disease.”
Both statements are supported by scientific consensus. The group did not elaborate on why it found them false.
The group also did not identify the member who filed the lawsuit on Oct. 28. Healing the Divide did not immediately respond to a message from Coconuts seeking comment.
In response to the group’s next steps, it said that “the wheels of justice turn slowly” and a pre-trial conference is set for the end of the month.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Health announced that YouTube removed videos that spread misinformation about the vaccines from founder Iris Koh’s channel for violating the platform’s “medical misinformation policy.” She had also been suspended from Facebook previously for the same reasons.
Koh responded to the news saying they are not anti-vaxxers but rather ”intelligent vaxxers.” On her site, she publishes rambling pieces filled with misinformation, such as last month’s reality-challenged entry “Can we POFMA Science?”
As of Tuesday, 85% of Singapore has been fully vaccinated.
https://coconuts.co/singapore/news/singapore-anti-vaxxers-sue-sph-for-not-being-anti-vaxx/
Healing the Divide founder Iris Koh granted bail, handed new charge of obstructing police
SINGAPORE — Iris Koh, the founder of anti-vaccine group Healing the Divide, was granted bail on Friday (Feb 4), after being handed an additional charge of obstructing a public servant from carrying out her duties.
As part of her bail conditions, Koh was ordered not to contact “directly or indirectly” certain members of the group.
The condition, specifically requested for by the prosecution, became a point of contention with Koh's defence counsel, who noted that its scope may be too broad and that Koh may need to contact some members to build her defence case.
The additional charge, Koh's second, was handed to her for obstructing a police inspector by refusing to sign and subsequently tearing up a copy of her recorded police statement.
According to court documents, this happened on Jan 25 while Koh was held in remand at Police Cantonment Complex.
Koh, 46, had previously been denied bail twice.
She was first refused bail last Friday, when her cheating charge was upgraded to one of being a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, and again on Monday after her lawyer took to the High Court in a bid for her to be released before the Chinese New Year festivities.
Koh is accused of working with general practitioner Jipson Quah to defraud the Ministry of Health (MOH) between July last year and January this year, by agreeing to dishonestly make false representations to MOH that people were vaccinated with Sinopharm vaccine when they were not.
She was initially charged on Jan 23 with working with the doctor to cheat the health ministry over fake vaccination records.
On Friday, the court was told that the prosecutors will no longer need to hold Koh in remand.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Samuel Yap requested the case to be adjourned for six weeks to complete investigations.
More at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/healing-divide-founder-iris-koh-granted-bail-handed-new-charge-obstructing-police-1809431
State Courts Court 4A
Hearing details
Nature of case
Criminal
Hearing type
Criminal - For Further Mention
Charge number
DAC-901261-2022
Offence description
Section 424A(1)(a) Penal Code 1871 r/w
Section 424A(3) Penal Code 1871 r/w
Section 109 Penal Code 1871
Parties involved
ACCUSED
Jipson Quah
Representation
WITHERS KHATTARWONG LLP (NATHAN SHASHIDRAN; LAURA YEO WEI WEN; PEREIRA JEREMY MARK)
Healing The Divide's Iris Koh hospitalised as fraud charge upgraded, bail denied
SINGAPORE — The co-founder of controversial anti-vaxxer group Healing The Divide was admitted to Singapore General Hospital ahead of her court mention on Friday (28 January), where her charge was upgraded and bail was denied.
Clarence Lun, Koh's lawyer who appeared via a Zoom hearing for Koh's mention, confirmed that the 46-year-old is currently warded in Singapore General Hospital (SGH). According to Lun, Koh does not have COVID-19.
It is unclear when and why she was admitted. Koh had also been admitted into the Institute of Mental Health during her remand.
Lun, who is from Fervent Chambers, also told Yahoo News Singapore that his client had instructed him through her husband Raymond Ng to file an urgent appeal against the decision to keep her in remand. This was so that Koh could spend Chinese New Year with her family at home.
Koh, 46, now faces an amended charge of being party to a criminal conspiracy with doctor Jipson Quah, by agreeing with him to make false representations to the Ministry of Health (MOH) that unvaccinated persons had taken the Sinopharm vaccine.
This was allegedly for the unvaccinated persons to obtain Certificates of Vaccination against COVID-19. The offence, said to have been committed between July 2021 and January 2022, carries a jail term of up to 20 years, a fine or both.
She had initially been charged on 23 January with an offence of criminal conspiracy to cheat. She was remanded from then until her second mention on Friday.
Koh will be remanded upon her discharge from SGH and return to court on 4 February.
Alleged criminal conspiracy
Koh is said to have referred clients, believed to be members of anti-vaccination group Healing The Divide (HTD), to medical practitioner Quah. Koh allegedly suggested administering something in lieu of the vaccine to patients.
Quah, 33, and his assistant Thomas Chua Cheng Soon, 40, were also charged for submitting false information with the intention to induce the Ministry of Health to issue the Certificate of Vaccination against COVID-19.
Chua had his charge upgraded on Friday as well, after initially being handed one count of cheating when he was charged last Friday. Cheating is a bailable offence carrying a maximum jail term of three years.
He is now facing an amended charge similar to Quah's. This charge states that he dishonestly made a false representation to the MOH around 14 January in a conspiracy with Quah and Mehrajunnisha. It is unclear who Mehrajunnisha is.
The alleged false representation was that Mehrajunnisha had been vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine when she was not, in order for her to obtain a certificate of vaccination.
The offence is not bailable and if convicted, Chua would face a maximum jail term of 20 years, or fined, or both.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Samuel Yap applied for Chua to be remanded another week, as additional time is needed for "significant investigations". DPP Yap added, "We have been given some updates from the police that the extent (of) the fraud perpetrated is quite significant."
Chua, who was not represented, said in reply that did not object to being further remanded. However, he stressed that he was nothing more than a "middle man".
"I believe I put down on my statement that I plead for leniency and I don't think this conspiracy charges I deserve. The thing is I just mainly follow instructions from Jipson to commit the offence."
Chua will return to court on 4 February.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/healing-divide-iris-koh-hospitalised-fraud-charge-upgraded-bail-denied-044259343.html
Doctor gets more serious charge of lying to MOH that woman was vaccinated against Covid-19
SINGAPORE — General practitioner Jipson Quah was handed a more serious charge on Tuesday (Jan 25) over allegations that he submitted false Covid-19 vaccination records.
Quah was originally charged with conspiring with his assistant, Thomas Chua Cheng Soon, and a woman named Mehrajunnisha to cheat the Ministry of Health (MOH).
However, the prosecution amended his charge to one of fraud by false representation under Section 424A of the Penal Code. This carries a maximum imprisonment term of 20 years, while those convicted of cheating can be jailed for up to three years.
District Judge Terence Tay, who rejected Quah's lawyers’ request for him to be released on bail, ordered that he be remanded for another week for further investigations. He has been on remand since he was first charged last Friday (Jan 21).
Quah, 33, appeared in court through a video link dressed in a white polo tee.
He is now accused of falsely representing to MOH on Jan 14 that Mehrajunnisha was vaccinated against Covid-19 with Sinopharm when she was not, in order for her to obtain a certificate of vaccination against the coronavirus.
“The outcome of the offending conduct is that there may be persons walking around with vaccinated statuses but have not received vaccinations. ” - Deputy Public Prosecutor Samuel Yap
Iris Koh, the founder of a controversial anti-vaccine group Healing the Divide, was also charged last week with conspiring with Quah between July last year and January this year to trick MOH into believing that people were vaccinated with Sinopharm when they had not been.
Koh had allegedly referred clients, believed to be members of Healing the Divide, to Quah and had also suggested administering something else in lieu of the vaccine to patients.
Quah currently does not face any charges of conspiring with Koh, but Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Samuel Yap said on Tuesday that preliminary investigations suggest that other patients are involved.
DPP Yap asked for Quah to be remanded in Central Police Division for one more week for further investigations.
He told the court that the case involved “quite a number of elements”, including access to Quah’s clinic’s medical records, and there was “some urgency” and public interest to ensure investigations are carried out quickly.
“The outcome of the offending conduct is that there may be persons walking around with vaccinated statuses but have not received vaccinations. These people will be allowed to enjoy vaccination-differentiated measures and pose a risk to Singaporeans at this time,” the prosecutor said.
He also highlighted that Quah’s charge is now a non-bailable one, whereas those charged with his original cheating offence can be offered bail.
When District Judge Tay asked if there would be “other offences disclosed” during investigations, DPP Yap said the prosecution is not sure at the moment.
A lot more at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/doctor-gets-more-serious-charge-lying-moh-woman-was-vaccinated-against-covid-19-1799036
You gotta admit one thing regardless, and that is Iris Koh sure has balls of steel.
JUST IN.
Healing the Divide founder apologises for “Asking people to flood the call centre for no genuine reason… Please forgive me if I did not handle this matter properly”
https://theindependent.sg/healing-the-divide-founder-apologises-for-asking-people-to-flood-the-call-centre-for-no-genuine-reason-please-forgive-me-if-i-did-not-handle-this-matter-properly/
Iris Koh kenna invited to lim kopi at Bedok Police Station.....anyone knows what happened?
FB group 'Don't Let Vaccines Divide Us SG' has been disabled!
Founder of 'Healing the Divide' anti-vax group engages lawyer M Ravi to start legal proceedings against S'pore Govt
Iris Koh, the woman behind Singapore's "Healing the Divide" group, intends to take the government to court for violating her human rights.
In a Nov. 13 Facebook post, her lawyer, M Ravi, announced that he had been instructed by the prominent vaccine sceptic to "commence judicial review proceedings".
According to the litigator, he is also representing similar litigants in an attempt to "restrain the state from further human rights violations via the Covid-19 inhumane, life threatening, degrading and oppressive measures that violate our fundamental guarantees to right to life and liberty under Article 9 and various other articles of the constitution (sic)."
Article 9 of Singapore's Constitution pertains to fundamental liberties.
Amongst its clauses, is one that reads: "No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty save in accordance with law."
Content taken down from YouTube
"Healing the Divide" — an anti-vaccination or vaccine-sceptic movement — had recently seen its content removed from Google-owned YouTube for violating its community guidelines.
In a press release on Nov. 7, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that the YouTube channel had a history of posting and sharing content that "perpetuates falsehood and misleading information about Covid-19 and vaccines."
"The government takes a serious view of the deliberate communication of these falsehoods and will not hesitate to take action against those who put the public's health and well-being at risk by spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines."
MOH also observed that Facebook has previously suspended Koh’s account more than once for violating their community guidelines.
Koh on the other hand, claims that her videos simply warn people about the dangers of vaccination.
In his Facebook post, Ravi said that he had known Koh as a friend for more than 20-years.
"For the record, I'm doing this probono for the people of Singapore whom I dearly love and for humanity as a whole here and elsewhere," he added.
https://mothership.sg/2021/11/healing-the-divide-legal-proceedings/
I wonder if it was Iris Koh who filed the lawsuit herself......
Healing The Divide should sue the Coconuts website too!
Taking umbrage at Umbrage Ng's shitty company? Aiseh Sinkies got show to watch liao