In response to media queries, the Police confirm that they have initiated investigations against Mr M Ravi for an offence of criminal defamation under section 500 of the Penal Code. The Public Prosecutor has issued an order pursuant to Section 16(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code for the Police to investigate into the offence.
This relates to a Facebook post posted by Mr M Ravi on 6 November 2020, alleging that Singaporean lawyer Mr Eugene Thuraisingam (“Mr Thuraisingam”) had told him that Minister Shanmugam had said he “wields influence over the Chief Justice” and “calls the shot and controlls (sic) Sundaresh Menon”.
On the same day, Mr Thuraisingam wrote a letter to Minister Shanmugam, stating that "[t]here is absolutely no truth whatsoever" to Mr Ravi's allegations”. Mr Thuraisingam also posted a copy of the letter online on his Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/eugene.thuraisingam), referring to Mr M Ravi's Facebook post as "false and completely untrue".
According to Mr Thuraisingam, Mr M Ravi had made similar allegations in a Facebook post published on 12 June 2017, and Mr Thuraisingam had clarified with Minister Shanmugam on 13 June 2017 that Mr M Ravi’s allegations were false. No Police action was taken in this incident.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
07 November 2020 @ 10:00 PM