On May 4, the chief editor of Singaporean alternative news website The Online Citizen and a writer for the platform had their jail terms for criminal defamation converted to fines.
Terry Xu Yuanchen, the chief editor, was given a fine of S$8,000 instead of three weeks in jail for defaming members of the Cabinet of Singapore in a letter that alleged corruption at the highest level.
Meanwhile, the letter's writer, Daniel De Costa Augustin, received a S$10,000 fine to replace his jail term of three weeks. However, Augustin will still serve three months in jail for accessing an email account without authorization to submit the article.
The pair also appealed against their convictions, but the appeals were dismissed. Justice Aedit Abdullah agreed that the three-week sentence for criminal defamation was manifestly excessive, as there was a difference in gravity between saying the Cabinet members were corrupt and saying that the members had allowed corruption to infect the establishment or the elite in Singapore through their incompetence.
Xu, who had already served three weeks' jail in April 2022 when he was sentenced by a district court, did not appear in court, as he is currently in Taiwan. A further hearing is scheduled for Xu's lawyer to confirm whether Xu wants the time served to be taken as the two weeks in default for the S$8,000 fine or if he prefers to pay the fine.
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