A local man was arrested on Tuesday for two alleged libel cases – defaming a legislator last week and defaming police officers while carrying out their duties this week, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said at a press briefing yesterday.
The 48-year-old jobless suspect is surnamed Chan.
According to Lou, an incumbent female legislator who is running for re-election reported to the Judiciary Police on Sunday that she was being defamed by someone on social media as well as by libellous messages posted in the streets.
According to Lou, PJ officers scrutinised CCTV footage as well as information from social media, identifying Chan as the suspect. The officers discovered that Chan had posted a libellous message on his social media page at around 3 a.m. on Saturday and posted the same message on another social media app later that day. In the early morning on the following day, he posted the same message on pieces of paper at a bus stop and on a footbridge in the Nam Van area, as well as three locations near a bus stop in the northern district.
Lou said the Judiciary Police went to search Chan’s home in Ilha Verde district on Tuesday afternoon and seized four sets totalling 16 pages of libellous messages which he had posted in the streets, as well as computer equipment used to generate those messages. PJ officers took Chan to a police station for further questioning. He admitted to posting the messages on social media but denied that he had posted the messages in the streets. Based on all the information gathered, the Judiciary Police believe that Chan defamed the lawmaker.
Lou did not identify the member of the Legislative Assembly (AL) targeted by the defamation.
Chan refused to cooperate with the police during their investigation in his flat. He got emotional and the Judiciary Police arranged for a mediation team to talk to him. He took pictures of the officers during their investigation. The officers told him to delete the pictures but he ignored them and instead posted two pictures of the officers online on two social media apps along with his messages insulting and defaming the officers. The Judiciary Police arrested Chan on Tuesday afternoon and took him to a police station. Chan admitted to posting the officers’ pictures as well as defaming and insulting the officers on social media, according to Lou.
The two cases will be transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP). Concerning the lawmaker, Chan faces a defamation charge. He also faces a charge of publicly defaming police officers while they were carrying out their duties as well as a charge of illegally filming and taking photos of the officers, according to Lou.
