SINGAPORE — Police reports have been lodged against Iris Koh, founder of the Healing the Divide group known to be against Covid-19 vaccination, and suspended lawyer M Ravi, the Elections Department of Singapore (ELD) said on Monday (Oct 2).

The Assistant Returning Officer filed the reports after the pair published multiple social posts during the cooling-off period for the Presidential Election. Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam was elected Singapore’s ninth President after securing 70.41 per cent of the vote. 

The cooling-off period started on Aug 31 midnight and went on until the close of polling at 8pm on Sept 1. During this time, campaigning activity and new election advertising were not allowed so as to give voters time to reflect on their choice for President.

Reminders over the prohibition on campaigning activity and election advertising during the cooling-off period had also been issued, said ELD.

WHAT KOH AND RAVI POSTED

However, Koh and Ravi repeatedly published online election advertising during the cooling-off period, said ELD.

This included content that could “reasonably be regarded as intended to promote or prejudice the electoral success of a candidate or to otherwise enhance or prejudice the standing of a candidate”.

On Cooling-off Day or Aug 31, Koh published two duplicate videos on TikTok with such content, while Ravi published Ms Koh’s video on Facebook, as well as three videos on Facebook with such content that same day.

On Polling Day or Sept 1, Mr Ravi published a fifth video and another post on Facebook, both with such content. 

Ms Koh was at the viewing party held at the home of presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian on polling night, where she accused journalists of biased reporting. 

The Assistant Returning Officer issued correction directions to TikTok and Meta on Aug 31 and Sept 1, to disable access in Singapore to the two videos by Koh, and the five videos and one post by Ravi.

TikTok and Meta complied with the correction directions.

The police may conduct investigations to establish whether offences have been committed by Koh and Ravi, said ELD.

Both Koh and Ravi have outstanding charges against them. Koh is accused of conspiring with a doctor to lie about people being vaccinated while Ravi faces charges with slapping a man near an MRT station and disorderly behaviour. CNA

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