Anti-death penalty activists get Pofma order from MHA over posts about drug trafficker's execution

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has instructed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) Office to issue correction directions to anti-death penalty group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) and activist Kokila Annamalai over posts about the Oct 4 execution of drug trafficker Mohammad Azwan Bohari.

The false claims were made in a TJC article published on its website on Oct 2, and on the group's Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X accounts the same day.

Kokila posted the claims on her Facebook page on Oct 2, and on X the next day.

MHA said they had falsely claimed that the Government schedules and stays executions arbitrarily and without regard for due legal process, and that the State did not bear the legal burden of proving a drug trafficking charge against the accused person.

Azwan was on Feb 11, 2019, convicted and sentenced to death for possessing not less than 26.5g of diamorphine or pure heroin for the purpose of trafficking.

The ministry said: "Ultimately, the high court was 'satisfied that the prosecution had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt against Azwan'. Therefore, it is false to say that the State does not bear the legal burden of proving a drug trafficking charge against the accused person."

The Government added: "In Azwan's case, he filed two last-minute applications to stay the execution of his sentence - the first in April 2024 was allowed by the court and his execution was stayed; the second in October 2024 was rejected by the court.

"Azwan's execution was not arbitrarily scheduled and stayed, nor without regard for due legal process."

MHA said: "An execution will only be scheduled when a prisoner has exhausted all rights of appeal and the clemency process in relation to his or her conviction and sentence."

The ministry added: "TJC has again deliberately communicated falsehoods despite the facts having been communicated to them earlier. TJC had previously been issued two Correction Directions on Aug 8 and 11 for having made similar false statements about the lack of due process accorded to prisoners awaiting capital punishment.

"It is also noteworthy that TJC had chosen to highlight the drug trafficker's side of the story, while ignoring the fact that he had committed the crime for personal financial gain and disregarded the harms he would cause to his victims - the drug abusers and their loved ones."

While TJC published the correction notice on its social media on Oct 6, it also added: "TJC categorically rejects the Government's claim that we have spread falsehoods.

"That K Shanmugam, the Minister for Home Affairs, can order us to publish correction directions under Pofma is a demonstration of state power, not of truth-seeking.

"We have put up the correction directions not because we accept any of what the Government asserts, but because of the grossly unjust terms of the Pofma law."

As of 6pm on Oct 6, Kokila has not published the correction notice.

• Ministry of Home Affairs