The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Under Singapore law, is it an offence for a person to criticise, or slander, foreign politicians, and heads of states, such as Queen Elizabeth II?”
No. Singapore has no such legislation, covering lese majeste, for either external or internal dignitaries. In the case of a foreign dignitary, there is the Defamation Act, Cap. 75. However, any such legal proceedings much take place in Singapore, and filed in country. I seriously doubt someone truly important and powerful would want to fly in simply to sue an ordinary citizen, and undergo the legal process here.
Defamation and slander is often difficult to prove and even more difficult to quantify in terms of damages. If the slander is serious enough to impact a foreign head of state, then there has to be some basis of truth or a malicious campaign that would entail the use of laws other than defamation.
On a related note, the Head of State of Singapore has very stringent laws protecting the dignity of the office. As per the Penal Code, Section 121A:
121A. Whoever compasses, imagines, invents, devises, or intends the death of or hurt to or imprisonment or restraint of the President, shall be punished with death, or with imprisonment for life and shall, if he is not sentenced to death, also be liable to fine.
Essentially, merely fantasising a violent
BDSM tickle-fest of the President’s person could carry the death penalty. And if they have not hanged you, but merely
incarcerated you for life, you will be fined. Such an indignity.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for taking the time to share our thoughts. Once approved, your comments will be poster.